KimmyBoo: forum

Kimberly's hand was still extended toward Gregor when movement near the SUV caught her attention. A man she had never seen before was approaching them. Her body reacted before her mind did. Her shoulders tensed, violet eyes narrowing as her hand instinctively started toward the Glock tucked into the back of her shorts. Then she stopped. Nobody else was reacting like he was a threat. And when the stranger went directly for Red, Kimberly realized who he had to be. Shadow. The voice from the comms that Icsis was yelling at finally had a face.

Kimberly slowly lowered her hand. Shadow didn't waste time introducing himself. He moved straight for Red, making it very clear that nobody was going to argue with him about who he was taking first. Kimberly wasn't going to. "His back and arm are dressed," she said quickly as Shadow lifted Red. "I kept pressure on the back wound the whole way here. He kept waking up and passing back out." Her eyes followed Red. "He was still breathing." She wasn't sure whether she was telling Shadow that or reassuring herself or her sister.

Then Shadow mentioned the SUV. Too much DNA and evidence here, it has to go. Kimberly looked back at the bullet-riddled vehicle. Blood. Glass. The med kit. Everything that had happened over the last several minutes seemed painted across the interior.

Then her eyes widened. The briefcase. She glanced toward the briefcase. That was something she absolutely couldn't leave. Something that could not be destroyed with the vehicle. Before Kimberly could reach for it, Icsis appeared. "That doesn't make it okay?!" Kimberly flinched.

There it was. The conversation she had known was coming. "I didn't say it did!" But Icsis was already moving. Kimberly watched her sister snatch the briefcase from the SUV before turning her attention toward Gregor. Our conversation isn't over. "I know!" Kimberly's exhaustion made the words come out sharper and more hoarse than she intended.

Then Icsis' eyes met hers. And the second these doors close, you are giving me every single word. Kimberly stared at her. Every single word. Her stomach tightened. Icsis didn't understand what she was asking for.

She was asking Kimberly to admit just how completely she had been broken down in captivity. How vulnerable she had become. How easily the Don had eventually been able to control her because, toward the end, Kimberly had stopped fighting the way she always believed she would.

She was asking for a realization of how actual weak and easily captured Kimmy really was. That was something she didn't want to explain to her sister. Not yet. Kimberly's gaze dropped. "Fine." The word came quietly. Then she looked back at her sister. "I said I'd tell you everything." A pause. "And I will."

But there was something almost frightened behind Kimberly's eyes now. Because everything meant everything. Things Kimberly had deliberately buried. Things she didn't understand. Things she hadn't even wanted to admit to herself that happened to her in the Don's captivity.  And worst of all, she would have to tell Icsis that there had been a point when she had given up on living entirely. Kimberly hadn't been coming to find her sister because she believed everything was going to be okay. She had been coming to see Icsis one last time. That was the part she didn't want her twin to know. That part she didn't even tell Emiliano.

She realized that part she may not reveal to her even when she tells her 'everything.' Not yet. Because Kimberly could already imagine those green eyes looking at her differently. Seeing weakness where Kimberly desperately wanted her sister to still see strength. She swallowed. "Just..." Her voice softened. "Let me explain it before you decide what you think happened."

Then Gregor tried to stand. Kimberly immediately forgot the argument. His body barely rose before she saw the dizziness hit him. "Gregor..." She moved beneath his arm without thinking. The movement sent a sharp pain through her own injured arm and she sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ah...shit." Her knees nearly buckled. Then Icsis was there on his other side.

For one strange moment Kimberly became painfully aware of how ridiculous the situation was. Gregor had been shot. She was barely standing. Icsis had just driven them through what felt like half the city while being shot at. And somehow the twins were now carrying an accountant between them into a secret bunker while simultaneously fighting with each other. Kimberly almost laughed. Almost. Instead she wrapped Gregor's arm more securely over her shoulder. She glanced up at him. Then looked down as they walked towards the elevator, "You better stay alive. Don't make me regret..."

Then Gregor spoke. This is good, you know. Kimberly slowly turned her head toward him. Her expression immediately became suspicious. Then he explained. A rift. Between her and Icsis. Believable. Kimberly stopped for half a second. Her violet eyes shifted toward her sister. Then back toward Gregor. The conversation in the SUV returned to her. We give him something he thinks is real. Her expression changed. "...Oh." Gregor had a point.

Anyone watching them tonight wouldn't need much convincing. Kimberly and Icsis loved each other enough to die for each other. But apparently they were also capable of looking like they wanted to strangle one another within five minutes of being reunited.

To them, the arguing meant I love you. To them the insults meant Stay strong, don't become weak. To them the fact that they were still standing and able to speak to one another meant I am here with you for as long as I possibly can be. 

They hadn't been raised with a mother's gentle reassurance or soft affection. Their childhood had taught them violence, insults, survival and endurance instead. Kimberly could soothe Icsis when her sister truly needed it. Icsis could protect Kimberly when everything fell apart. But neither of them knew how to constantly coddle the other. That wasn't their language. This was.

A tiny, exhausted smile appeared. "Well..." She looked toward Icsis. "This might be the first time one of our arguments has actually been useful." Her smile disappeared as quickly as it came. "But we're not doing anything until we know exactly how Emiliano is getting information." Her eyes returned to Gregor. "And nobody becomes bait." A beat. "Especially not my sister." There was absolutely no negotiation in that statement.

They started moving again. Every step became harder. Now that Kimberly wasn't trapped inside a speeding vehicle with bullets flying around her, her body seemed to have finally received permission to stop functioning. The adrenaline was disappearing. Fast. Her legs trembled. Her injured arm throbbed with every heartbeat. The ringing in her ears hadn't completely disappeared. And there was an uncomfortable heaviness settling over her entire body.

Still, she kept Gregor's arm over her shoulder. One foot. Another. One foot. Another.

She could hear Gregor thanking Icsis. Kimberly's eyes lifted slightly. You could have left me, or hurt me. But you didn't. Despite everything, a faint smile touched Kimberly's face.

Kimberly looked back toward Gregor. "Yes you are right about one thing...technically..." Her eyebrow lifted. "She saved both of us." Her gaze returned to her twin. "Don't let it go to your head."

A few more steps. Kimberly's boot dragged slightly against the floor. She corrected herself quickly. Hopefully nobody noticed. Then Lina moved closer. Kimberly caught the movement from the corner of her eye.

"I'm okay." The answer came automatically when she saw her coming and helping her. Nobody had even asked. That probably wasn't convincing. She straightened herself anyway.

Her body felt like it had been beaten with a hammer. Then the entrance revealed itself. Kimberly stared at the strange boulder. "...Seriously?" After everything she had seen tonight, apparently a hidden entrance inside a fake rock shouldn't have surprised her. It did.

The door opened. A small room waited beyond it. And inside...an elevator. Only one direction. Down.

Kimberly stared at it. Something cold moved through her stomach. For just a moment, the fluorescent light disappeared. The walls felt smaller. Concrete. Underground. No easy exit. Her breathing changed. Barely. But enough. Memories threatened to crawl upward. Being trapped. Being controlled. Not knowing where she was being taken.

Kimberly's grip around Gregor tightened unconsciously. Then she caught herself. No. This wasn't then. Icsis was beside her. Nobody was dragging her anywhere. She was walking in herself.

Kimberly took a slow breath. In. She remembered Gregor's voice. Out. Her shoulders lowered. She stepped toward the elevator. Then stopped. She stepped into the elevator with Gregor's weight still partially against her.

Once inside, however, her knees threatened to give out again. She stumbled sideways, accidentally knocking Lina against the wall as Lina tried to support her. Kimberly caught herself just enough to lift her head toward her. An apologetic little nod. "I'm fine." The words came out as little more than a whisper.

There it was again. That stupid sentence. Her eyes moved toward Icsis. She already knew her twin wasn't going to believe it. Especially not after tonight. The elevator doors waited to close. And Kimberly remembered Icsis' promise. Every single word. Her violet eyes met her sister's green ones. For once Kimberly didn't look away.

"When we get down there, let them look at Gregor first." She swallowed. A pause. "Then you and me." Her voice lowered. "Alone."

Kimberly's expression became serious. Her fingers curled slightly at her side. "Then I will tell you everything I remember." That distinction mattered more than Icsis could possibly know.

Kimberly leaned her head back against the elevator wall. "And after that..." Her eyes closed for only a second. "...you can yell at me as much as you want." A faint exhausted smile touched her lips. "I just need to sit down for a minute.."

Her arms slowly slipped away from Gregor and Lina. Kimberly expected her back to slide against the wall. Expected to lower herself carefully onto the elevator floor. But her legs didn't bend the way she told them to. They simply stopped holding her. Her knees buckled. For a strange second, Kimberly didn't understand what was happening. The fluorescent light above her blurred. Someone's face moved in front of her. Lina? Gregor? Icsis? She couldn't tell anymore.

The elevator suddenly sounded very far away. So did everyone inside it. Kimberly blinked slowly. Once. The violet of her eyes disappeared beneath heavy eyelids before she forced them open again. I'm fine. She wanted to say it again. Her lips moved. Nothing came out. Her body felt strangely weightless now. No pain. No ringing. No fear. Just tired. So unbelievably heavy and tired.

Her gaze searched instinctively for Icsis one last time. She thought she found her. Kimberly tried to smile. I'm okay. Whether the words ever actually left her mouth, she didn't know. The fluorescent lights stretched into a long white blur. Then disappeared.

Kimberly's body went completely limp as consciousness finally abandoned her. And for the first time since this nightmare began...Kimberly stopped fighting.

The second Icsis' green eyes found hers in the rearview mirror, Kimberly knew. She had heard every word. "You kept his name from me." Kimberly's stomach dropped. Her lips parted, but nothing came out. He hunts us. He breaks you. And you protected his identity. "No, I..." We will have our own non-negotiable conversation when we hit the concrete... twin.

Kimberly immediately shut her mouth. That last word hit harder than the accusation. Twin. She knew that tone. And this was absolutely not the time to argue with Icsis while her sister was driving a vehicle like she was personally trying to kill every traffic law ever written. Kimberly swallowed hard and looked away from the mirror.

"I didn't protect him," she whispered, barely loud enough to hear over the engine. She sighed and whispered quiet enough to where only Gregor could possibly hear her, or maybe even Red if he was consciously listening while passed out, "I was protecting you..."

But she wasn't going to explain it now. Not while they were still being hunted. Not while Red was bleeding beneath her hands. And definitely not while Icsis was driving. That conversation would come. Apparently whether Kimberly wanted it to or not.

Red suddenly jerked beneath her hands. "Motherfucker! Warn me next time..." Kimberly startled so badly she nearly pulled her hands away from his dressing. "What the hell?" Her eyes widened.

For someone half-conscious and bleeding all over the SUV, the man certainly had a lot of energy when it came to complaining. "I didn't pour anything on you!" She almost laughed from sheer relief. He was awake. Even if only for a few seconds.

"I'm glad you are alive dude." But Red was already fading again. Kimberly shook her head. Relived that Icsis wouldn't have two reasons to lose it once we were safe.

Her hands returned firmly over the dressing. Then Gregor spoke beside her. Indeed, much better. Kimberly became painfully aware of his arm around her waist again. And how close they actually were. She squirmed a little in his lap from the nervousness and tingles his voice was bringing up her spine. I aim to serve. Her eyes slowly moved toward him.

Despite everything happening around them, the corner of her mouth lifted as he spoke. Then he coughed. The smile disappeared immediately. I need him to stay alive. All of her thoughts of the sexy-voiced warm man holding her disappeared and only concern displayed on her emotions.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "Breathing is your job right now. Suave can wait."

But as Gregor continued, Kimberly's expression gradually became serious. Emiliano's sadism is deeply impractical. She listened. Really listened. Gregor was looking at this differently than she had. Kimberly had spent so much time trying to understand why Emiliano was doing this that she hadn't stopped to think about what his obsession might make him do wrong. If he wanted her suffering badly enough... Maybe that made him predictable.

Her brow furrowed. "Exploit it..." She repeated the words quietly to herself. Then Gregor suggested feeding Emiliano false information. Red could be bought. Gregor had the briefcase. Something that Emiliano would believe could hurt them badly enough to make him react.

Kimberly's eyes immediately dropped toward the briefcase. "No." The answer came quickly. Too quickly. She looked back at Gregor. "Not you." Her expression hardened. "If Emiliano believes you have that briefcase, then you stop being some random man who happened to get caught in this." Her violet eyes held his. "You become useful." A pause. "Or a target."

Her gaze lowered briefly. "And I'm not handing him another person to hurt because of me."

Then Gregor asked the question. What would hurt you so much that he couldn't resist showing up in person? Kimberly went completely still. For several seconds, she didn't answer. Her eyes slowly moved toward Icsis. The answer frightened her because she knew it immediately. "Icsis..." Her voice was barely audible.

Kimberly swallowed. "Things can be replaced." Her fingers curled slightly against Red's dressing. "Money can come back. Businesses can be rebuilt. Houses can burn. Cars can disappear. I don't care." Her eyes returned to Gregor. "But my sister..." She hesitated. "If he wanted to hurt me badly enough that I stopped thinking clearly..." Her gaze drifted toward Icsis again. "He'd hurt someone I care about....the only person he knows I care about..."

The realization made her stomach twist. And suddenly Gregor's idea didn't feel theoretical anymore. Her eyes narrowed. "Which means we don't give him the real thing." A thought was forming. Slowly. "We give him something he thinks is real." Kimberly looked toward Gregor. "You might actually be onto something."

Before she could continue, Red stirred beneath her again. Sweet Cheeks, don't worry about me! Take care of you and Kimmy. Kimberly blinked. Then Red continued. Save your energy. I will have something else I would much prefer you to use your hands on when we get to the bunker. Kimberly's mouth fell open. Her eyes shot toward Red and disgust filled her face letting go of his wound for a second. "Eww like what?..." Then she realized.

Red thought Icsis was the one touching him. Kimberly stared at him for half a second before a weak laugh escaped her. "Oh, so THIS is the type of relationship you two have." She glanced toward Icsis. She wanted to joke, say something to her sister regarding the possibility of her losing her virginity to a guy like him. Both of them isolated form the world, deemed to be virgins for life, but she couldn't say it in her sister state. She swallowed her joke down and looked serious again, pressing back on his wound.

Red slipped unconscious again. Her hands pressed more firmly against the dressing. She watched him closely. Still breathing. "Okay..." Kimberly released the breath she had been holding. "Keep doing that."

Then everything became chaos again. Left! Now! The SUV swung violently. Kimberly was thrown sideways, Gregor's arm tightening around her as she instinctively grabbed onto him with one hand while desperately keeping the other against Red. Her face buried inside of Gregor's chest from the weakness almost making her pass out from the whiplash.

The screeching tires keeping her awake. Then suddenly...the explosion behind them illuminated the entire interior of the SUV. Kimberly ducked instinctively, squeezing her eyes shut as the shockwave rattled the vehicle. She shivered in Gregor's arms for a moment until she realized how weak she looked and she straightened herself out as she realized she was okay.

The suddenly...another vehicle pursued them. Luna's arrow disappeared through what remained of the rear window. A flash of blue. Then the pursuing vehicle veered away. Kimberly stared. She blinked. Shocked from the back to back overstimulating turn of events.

The warehouse appeared ahead. Then Icsis screamed for everyone to brace. Kimberly immediately grabbed Gregor's arm around her waist with one hand. She didn't have time to be embarrassed about how tightly she squeezed onto him. Her other hand went down and planted against Red's dressing.

The SUV pitched violently right. Kimberly's body slammed backward against Gregor as the vehicle fishtailed. Her teeth clenched. Her injured arm burned. Ringing in her ears forced her eyes closed from the pain. The bumper struck something. Then...concrete. Fluorescent lights. A bunker.

The SUV finally stopped. For several seconds Kimberly didn't move. She remained exactly where she was, breathing hard, Gregor's arm still around her waist and one bloody hand still resting against Red's back.

Silence suddenly felt strange. No gunfire. No tires screaming. No engines chasing them. They had made it. Kimberly's forehead lowered briefly. "Gracias Dios..." her mind thought silently as she allowed her frazzled body to calm.

Then she heard the click of Gregor's seatbelt.

His door opened. Kimberly lifted her head. Those violet eyes met his. Ladies first. She stared at him. Then slowly looked down. At herself. Still sitting directly in his lap. Her cheeks immediately turned bright red. Somehow, with everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten. She looked back at him. "Right." A tiny embarrassed smile appeared.

Kimberly removed her hand from Red's wound and carefully lifted Gregor's arm from around her waist. Then she pointed toward his wounded side. "You're not getting out by yourself...stay here."

She shifted carefully, trying to climb from his lap without putting pressure against his injury, whilst still in severe pain herself. Even more stiff from sitting down for so long and from experiencing whiplash multiple times from her sisters driving.

Then Kimberly remembered something. Her expression changed instantly.  Her gaze eventually found Icsis. And Kimberly's relief vanished. Because she remembered. Emiliano. Her sister hadn't forgotten. Neither had Kimberly. Kimberly swallowed. "We're safe now." A pause. She knew exactly what was coming. "And I know." Her voice softened. "We need to talk." Kimberly didn't look away this time. "But I didn't protect him, Icsis." Her expression tightened. "I need you to understand that before you decide what I did." Then her eyes dropped briefly. "There are things about Emiliano that I haven't told you." She looked back at her twin. "Not because I wanted to protect him." A beat. "But because I...he..." And Kimberly had a feeling surviving the drive to the bunker had been the easy part. "I promise you I will tell you everything. We need a moment alone when we can."

Only after getting the words out did Kimberly finally allow herself to look around the bunker. Safe. For the moment.

Her feet finally touched the floor outside the SUV carefully and weakly. She turned back toward him and extended her hand weakly to Gregor. A faint smile appeared. She paused. "Well..."

She remembered Gregor's words after falling into his lap. Maybe not the time or place, girlfriend. Kimberly's head turned toward him. Even through the fear, pain, and chaos, her eyebrows lifted in surprise. A tiny, almost disbelieving smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Really?" Her voice was weak. "You pick now to flirt?" She gave the smallest shake of her head before her expression softened again. "While I look like this?" she gave a soft weak giggle. At least he was talking. At least he was still awake. That was what mattered.

Kimberly listened carefully as he told her the bleeding had stopped for now. "Good."

The moment Lina slipped the green pouch over her shoulder, Kimberly’s eyes dropped to it. "The med kit..." Her fingers immediately reached for the bag, though they were still trembling from weakness. "Thank you, Lina."

Kimberly pulled the pouch open with unsteady hands and quickly searched through its contents. Gauze. Pressure dressings. Medical tape. Antiseptic supplies.

Her eyes moved to Red’s back. The bleeding wound was still beneath her hands, and she knew she couldn’t keep relying on pressure alone, not with the SUV moving this violently.

Kimberly carefully shifted closer to Red, bracing herself against the seat as the SUV swerved. She removed one hand from his wound only long enough to open an antiseptic wipe. "Red... this is going to hurt." She wasn’t sure he could hear her, but she said it anyway. With her jaw clenched, Kimberly gently cleaned the skin around the wound, working as carefully as the bouncing vehicle allowed. Every sudden movement made her injured arm throb, but she forced herself to keep going. She grabbed a thick piece of gauze and pressed it firmly over the wound. "Come on..." Her breathing became shallow as she reached for a pressure dressing. She wrapped it around Red’s torso as securely as she could, careful not to shift him more than necessary, then used the medical tape to hold everything in place. The dressing began to absorb the blood that had soaked through her hands. Kimberly kept one palm pressed over it, applying steady pressure. "That should help slow the bleeding." Her voice shook, but her hands remained determined.

She glanced toward Red’s face, watching for any sign that he was still breathing. Another sharp turn threw her against the seat, and pain flashed across her face. Still, she refused to let go. She looked down at the remaining supplies and remembered the bleeding from Red’s arm. "Crap...I forgot his arm too..." Kimberly reached for another piece of gauze and carefully secured it against the wound on his bicep, wrapping it as tightly as she could without cutting off circulation.

Once both injuries were dressed, she tucked the remaining supplies back into the pouch and kept it close beside her. Then she returned both hands to Red’s back, maintaining pressure over the dressing while keeping her eyes fixed on him. Her gaze briefly shifted toward Icsis. "Just keep driving. I won't let him die..." Kimberly looked back at Red. Despite the fear in her eyes about what would happen to Icsis' mental state if something happened to this man, she continued holding pressure against the wound. She had promised she would keep him alive. And Kimberly wasn’t ready to break that promise.

Her violet eyes looked over at Gregor, surely her moving around and jolting in his lap had to be uncomfortable in more ways than one. She searched his face and looked closer then she realized. "Don't move any more than you have to."

Before she realized how close her face was to his, Gregor asked what was going to happen next. Kimberly remained quiet for a moment. She looked away as she processed her thoughts. Her hands were still pressed firmly against Red's back, but her mind was already racing. The Ghost. Emiliano. Icsis. The bunker. The chase. None of it made sense yet.

Then the SUV suddenly jerked hard. Kimberly's body was thrown sideways. Her hands slipped from Red's back. She caught herself against the seat, but the movement nearly sent her tumbling again. "Ah—" Her injured arm screamed with pain. Kimberly gritted her teeth and forced herself upright. For a moment she simply sat there, breathing heavily.

Then her eyes landed on the terminal Gregor was holding. She turned her body slowly on Gregor's lap and reached toward it with her bloody hand. "Give me that." Her fingers closed around the terminal, leaving a faint smear of Red's blood across its surface. Kimberly pulled it toward herself and glanced over the screen. The information was moving too quickly for her exhausted mind to process everything, but having something concrete to focus on helped.

She shifted slightly in Gregor's lap before turning back towards Red. Then, realizing she needed something to keep herself from being thrown around again, Kimberly carefully took Gregor's arm and brought it around her waist. She paused. Her cheeks warmed slightly realizing she had adjusted herself against him, using his arm almost like a seatbelt. "Sorry...I.." Once she felt secure enough, she handed the terminal back to him quickly. She gathered herself and made it seem intentional so he wouldn't notice how flustered she was.

"There." She exhaled slowly. "Much better." Then her expression changed. Gregor had asked a serious question. What were they going to do now? Kimberly stared through the rain-streaked window. When she finally spoke, her voice was much quieter. "Emiliano doesn't just want me dead." Her eyes hardened. "He wants me and Icsis to pay." She swallowed. "For what?" Kimberly shook her head slowly. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

Her fingers tightened against the seat then she pressed her hands back into Red's wound, remembered she had to keep pressure on it even though the bleeding slowed.

She continued to speak. "Why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?" Her voice became even quieter. "When I was near him..." She stopped. The memory came rushing back. That horrible day. The fear. The confusion. The things she still didn't completely understand. Kimberly's breathing faltered. She stared down at her bloody hand. Her throat tightened. She swallowed hard before forcing herself to continue. "When he saved me..." A pause.

Her eyes flickered toward Gregor. "That part doesn't make sense." Another swallow. "That confuses me too...he could of let the Don keep me captured and tortured....but he saved me....why?" Kimberly looked away.

For a few seconds, she said nothing. Then something colder settled into her expression. "But one thing I know..." Her eyes lifted toward the windshield. "He is going to pay." There was no hesitation in her voice now. No uncertainty. Only determination.

Kimberly glanced toward Gregor again when she remembered his question about rivals. "As for rivals..." She shook her head. "I only have two big ones that I know of." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "But thanks to Emiliano..." She looked toward the vehicles still chasing them. "...there's no telling how many I have now." A tired breath escaped her. "He has dragged me and Icsis into something much bigger than whatever was already waiting for us."

Kimberly glanced toward her sister. "And I don't even know everything that happened while we were apart." Her gaze returned to Gregor.

"So if you're asking me whether I have someone else who can just make all of this disappear..." She shook her head. "No." "But right now, revenge isn't the priority." She looked at him. "We get everyone alive somewhere safe to recoup first."

Her eyes moved toward Icsis. "Then we figure out what Emiliano wants." Her gaze returned to Red. "And then we make sure he never gets another chance to hurt either of us." The SUV jolted again.

Kimberly instinctively tightened Gregor's arm around her waist before looking back toward Red. She needed to get pressure back onto his wound. She leaned forward again, carefully repositioning herself. "Hold on, Red." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "We're not letting you die."

Then, without looking at Gregor, she spoke softly. "And you're not dying either." A faint smile touched her lips. "I've already given you an order." Her eyes flickered toward him. "Remember?"

Stay awake. Stay alive.

Kimberly turned back toward Red's wound. And once again, she pressed both hands firmly against his back. Because whatever happened next, she intended to keep every promise she had just made.

Then one thing occurred to her and she froze in a panic. She had just revealed out loud that the person behind this was Emiliano and this is probably the first time Icsis is finding out as well. Her entire body went nearly numb and her violet eyes quickly flashed up at Icsis not sure what chaos was about to ensue.

Kimberly looked genuinely surprised when Icsis suddenly moved beneath Gregor’s arm, taking part of his weight onto herself. For a moment, she simply stared at her sister. Icsis… Kimberly had seen her sister do many things. Dangerous things. Reckless things. Things that required a cold heart and an even colder mind. But this...this was different. Icsis was helping Gregor. Kimberly stared at her as she helped on the other side getting Gregor to the SUV while clinging to the gun and briefcase. Her head tingling with pain the closer they got to the SUV with the blaring horn.

And the moment she released him to climb into the SUV, Kimberly finally noticed the way her sister’s entire body had reacted to seeing Red behind the wheel. The panic. The terror. The way her voice had cracked around his name. Red. Kimberly’s eyes shifted toward the driver’s seat. Then back to Icsis. And suddenly, she understood. That man wasn’t just another ally. He meant something to her sister. Something deep. Something terrifying.

Kimberly’s expression softened for only half a second before Gregor’s weight shifted heavily against her. “Oh—” He fell partially into her, forcing her to catch him with both arms. The sudden strain shot through her injured arm. A sharp cough tore from her chest. But Kimberly refused to let him fall.

She planted her feet against the wet ground, gritted her teeth, and used every bit of strength she had left to push Gregor farther into the SUV's backseat on the passenger side. “Come on,” she breathed, her voice strained. “Just a little farther…” Her arms trembled violently. Her wound burned. Her knees threatened to fold beneath her. But she pushed harder. Finally, Gregor was inside. Safe enough. For now.

Kimberly glanced toward Icsis again. Her sister was already fighting to move Red with the drivers seat down, she was shouting into the comms, trying to keep control of the situation while the world seemed to collapse around her. Kimberly’s jaw tightened. I’m not losing either of them. Not Gregor. Not Red. Not while she was still breathing.

As the sound of the horn, stopped suddenly after her sister moved Red's body halfway to the back, the pain in her head subsided a bit. She turned toward the back of the SUV and spotted Lina. “Lina!” Kimberly shouted. “Why didn't you help him! What do I do?!" The force of the command made her cough again, harsher this time. She bent slightly at the waist, pressing her lips together until the pain passed. Then she forced herself upright. Once Gregor was fully inside, Kimberly quickly reached for the gun Icsis had given her. Her fingers shook as she clicked the safety on. Not wanting to shoot her ass. She tucked the weapon securely into the upper back waistband of her tight shorts, making certain it wouldn’t slip loose while they were moving.

Then she grabbed the briefcase and pulled herself up into the car in the same door as Gregor. Pain immediately flared through her injured arm from pulling herself up and closing the door quickly behind her. Her grip tightened around the hard plastic. She hissed quietly but refused to release it. Kimberly pulled herself into the SUV as quickly as her weakened body would allow, only to realize there was nowhere else to go.

Gregor had already fastened his seat belt. The next jolt of the vehicle sent her stumbling sideways. Straight into his lap. Kimberly froze. Her entire face flushed with startled embarrassment. “Oh my God...” She immediately shifted her body to the side, careful to keep away from his wounded stomach. “I’m sorry! I didn’t....” Another violent movement rocked the SUV. Kimberly caught herself against the seat, one hand braced near Gregor’s shoulder the other still holding firm to the briefcase.

Then she turned her head slightly toward Gregor, checking him from the corner of her eye. “Are you okay?” she asked quickly. “Are you bleeding more?” She leaned closer, peeking around him to inspect the other side of his body. Then she lowered her voice, bringing her mouth near his ear so Icsis wouldn’t hear her over the chaos. “Don’t close your eyes, okay?” she whispered calmly. “Stay awake. Stay alive.”

Her expression changed the moment she turned her head and saw Red's condition. She turned her body around in Gregor's lap to face the front where Red and Icsis were, Kimberly pulled Red more with her one hand, his body sliding just a tad more towards the back, until his face was resting on the seat with his back in the air. Kimberly reached forward through the pain of pulling him and pressed her palm against the bleeding wound on Red's back. Warm blood soaked against her hand. She realized if she was going to save this person that was dear to her sister she needed to use both hands.

Kimberly swallowed. Stay alive. She needed him to. She needed all of them to. Her eyes flickered toward the briefcase still trapped against her side held tightly in her other hand then back to Gregor. “Can…” Her voice faltered. She hated that it did. “Can you keep this safe?” She carefully placed the briefcase on the floor between his legs. “I need both of my hands…”

She pushed harder on Red's back with both hands, “Stay with us.” The words were meant for him. But they were meant for herself, too. Kimberly’s body swayed dangerously from the weakness. For a moment, her vision blurred at the edges, and she nearly collapsed against Gregor.

She fought it. She forced her eyes open. Forced her breathing to steady. Her fingers pressed harder against Red’s back.

A moment later, Kimberly noticed the blood running down Red’s arm. Her eyes widened. “His arm too…” She looked down at her hands. She couldn’t keep pressure on both wounds. Not without something to use as a bandage. Kimberly released Red’s back for only a moment and grabbed the bottom of her already-short crop top. She pulled. Nothing. She tried again, using what little strength remained in her arms. The fabric stretched but refused to tear.

Her breathing became nervous. Not because she was asking Gregor for help. Because she had to admit something she desperately didn’t want anyone to hear. She didn’t have enough strength left. Kimberly turned her head toward him. Her voice dropped to a quiet whisper. “Can you help me rip the bottom of my top so I can make a bandage?” She gave the fabric one more weak tug. Then sighed softly. “I… I don’t have enough strength left to rip it.” The admission left her looking almost ashamed.

But her eyes quickly moved back toward Red. She didn’t have time to be embarrassed. She needed both hands. She needed the cloth. She needed Gregor to stay awake. And she needed Red to stay alive.

Kimberly leaned forward again, ready to press against the wound the moment she had something to wrap around his arm. “Please,” she whispered. Not as a command this time. As a desperate request. And beneath the noise, beneath the gunfire, beneath the screaming engine and Shadow’s countdown, the words she had told Gregor and her sister echoed inside her own mind. Stay awake. Stay alive. I’m still standing.

Kimberly leaned forward again, using both hands to maintain pressure against Red’s back as Icsis continued shouting about the bunker and Shadow’s cleanup protocol. The words reached her through the chaos. Five minutes. Cleaning. Rules.

Kimberly slowly looked toward her sister after hearing her say “And Shadow, we are coming to that bunker either way...Everyone, brace your frames! We are pushing straight through their front bumper!" Then a grin began to form. Tired. Painful. But determined. “That’s right, Icsis,” she said, her voice rough but certain. “We don’t follow anyone’s rules…” She nodded once. “…but our own.”

Kimberly froze for half a second when Icsis pointed at Gregor. "Why is he still breathing?" The question hit harder than any gunshot outside the house.

Her violet eyes immediately dropped, guilt twisting painfully through her chest. She knew exactly why Gregor was still breathing. She knew what had happened between them, what he had done for her, what he had said to her when she was drowning inside herself. And she knew Icsis didn't understand any of it. Especially after everything Kimberly taught her. How cold she taught her to be with outsiders.

Kimberly opened her mouth. Nothing came out. Her lips parted again, but the words tangled somewhere in her throat. "I... I will tell you a story later, okay?" It was the first time Kimberly had ever stumbled over her words like that in front of her sister. She reached out and gently patted Icsis' back, trying to reassure her even while her own hands trembled. "For now, he's coming with us. We have to figure out everything, okay?"

Then Icsis's words came. Are you that weak? Kimberly's eyes immediately began to swell with tears. She looked away before her sister could see just how deeply it had cut. "It's not because of this wound.." she points to her blood soaked wrapped wound, that most likely needed stitches. Yet Kimberly would not let that be the reason. So she continued her statement, "..thats...thats not why I'm this weak right now..." She pauses. Her voice cracked. "It's... I will tell you later..." She swallowed hard. Her breathing became uneven. The thought of telling Icsis she had done this to herself, she had made herself this sick from not drinking. From being weak because of something horrible that happened to her.

For a moment, the old panic began creeping up her spine, but Kimberly forced herself to remember what Gregor had taught her. In. Out. Slowly. Again. In. Out.

She wasn't going to fall apart. Not here. Not now.

Kimberly leaned closer to Icsis, lowering her voice until it was barely audible beneath the chaos outside. "I'm not weak." Her eyes lifted to meet her sister's. "I'm still standing." This was a code for something she told her sister. Even when Icsis fell as a little fragile girl. When their father called her weak this is something she told her. She told her if her feet could touch the ground and she could stand herself up, not matter how much it hurt, she wasn't weak. But the moment she couldn't stand, that's when she would let her use her 'twin power" to help her stand, so she would never be weak no matter what.

Then, unexpectedly, Icsis agreed to let Gregor come with them. All of them. Kimberly stared at her sister for a moment. Something had changed. She could feel it. Something big. Whatever had happened to Icsis while they were separated had altered something inside her. Kimberly didn't understand it yet, but she could see it in her sister's eyes.

There wasn't time to ask. A voice suddenly called out their position from outside, calling her an idiot for putting the white cloth out the window. The same cloth she used nearly all her strength to put together. The same cloth that her and Gregor, just moments ago, thought was their best way to safety.

Kimberly's hand curled into a tight fist. They wouldn't know where we were if you didn't yell it, you idiot! Anger flashed hotly through her chest. "Who is that idiot that's trying to get us killed?" she muttered under her breath. She didn't wait for an answer. She simply followed Icsis.

Then Gregor's voice reached her. Nothing from what I've seen of you, was weak. The words echoed. Again. And again. Kimberly's chest tightened. She refused to look at him. If she did, she knew the tears she had been holding back would probably fall. Instead, she kept her eyes forward, her sunkissed cheeks burning with embarrassment. He really thinks I'm not weak.

She didn't know why that mattered so much. She didn't have time to figure it out. Her hand moved backward almost instinctively. Her fingers found Gregor's hand. She caught it gently as she moved, using what little strength she had to help pull him forward with her. For just a moment, the contact grounded her. Then the horn sounded. A long, deafening blast. Kimberly flinched internally. Her heart jumped into her throat. She had no idea what the sound meant. But she wasn't going to let Icsis see fear on her face. Not now.

"What is that...?" Then she heard Icsis' voice crack with panic. "Red!" Kimberly's head snapped toward her. "Who is... what?" The confusion on her face deepened. She had heard the name before. But now there was something in Icsis' voice that made the name feel important. Dangerously important. Kimberly didn't have time to ask.

Her eyes caught sight of the briefcase after Icsis mentioned it. "Its here." She confirmed with her sister before she moved. She immediately reached for it, gripping it tightly against herself as though letting it go wasn't an option. In the process, her hand slipped from Gregor's. And strangely, she missed it immediately. A small, confusing part of her almost wished she could have simply kept holding his hand instead.

But Icsis' life depended on her. Gregor's life depended on her. Her own life depended on her. So Kimberly held the briefcase close with one arm, tightened her grip around the Glock with the other, and followed her sister down the stairs.

As they moved slowly, she kept breathing. In. Out. In. Out.

Gregor's footsteps followed behind them. Until suddenly...he stopped. Kimberly turned. Her expression changed the moment she saw him behind the overturned table, struggling to catch his breath. Then she heard him. "You move, I'll cover you."

Kimberly's eyes narrowed. "No!" The word came out sharper than she intended and with a cough from the strength she used to shout it out.

She stepped toward him. "You are coming with us." Her voice trembled with anger now, but underneath it was something else. Fear. She couldn't lose him. Not after everything.

"You're not stopping." Kimberly paused. Then her expression shifted. She realized how much emotion she had just allowed to show. So she straightened. Her breathing slowed. And a small smirk appeared at the corner of her lips. Not because anything was funny. Because she needed Icsis to see it. She needed Gregor to see it. She needed herself to believe it. I'm not weak.

Kimberly extended her hand toward Gregor. The exact same way he had extended his hand to her back at the safe house window. Her violet eyes locked onto his. "This is my first non-negotiable command to you." Her smirk deepened slightly. "You stay by my side." She held her hand there, waiting. "And you are not allowed to leave it." A beat passed. "Let's go."

Kimberly watched Gregor as he moved. Despite the blood soaking through the makeshift dressing around his torso, he still managed to drag the blankets toward the radiator and secure the makeshift rope around it. Her eyes followed every movement. There was something almost surreal about watching him work through the pain. He was hurt. Badly enough that she could see it in the way he breathed, the way his body occasionally tightened whenever he moved. And yet he was still strong enough to secure the line.

Kimberly's cheeks warmed slightly. She quickly looked away. Of course he would still be doing this. Her eyes flicked back toward him for half a second, watching the muscles in his arms strain as he pulled the fabric tight around the radiator. She couldn't help being a little amazed. "You're stronger than you look," she murmured, almost to herself.

Then—"Kimmy! Kimmy, are you in there?!" Everything inside Kimberly stopped. Her breath caught. Her eyes widened. That voice. She knew that voice. "Icsis..."

The weakness that had been dragging through her body suddenly seemed to disappear for one precious second. Then it all came crashing back at once. Her knees nearly buckled. The exhaustion from tearing the sheets apart, tying them together, holding pressure against Gregor's wound, fighting through the dizziness—everything she had forced herself to ignore suddenly hit her all at once.

And then tears began falling. Instantly. She didn't even have time to stop them. "Icsis!" Kimberly's voice broke as she shouted toward the door. "Icsis! Don't be scared! I'm right here!" Her voice cracked again. "Please don't be scared!" The irony was almost cruel. She was terrified. Terrified that Icsis was hurt. Terrified that she was too late. Terrified that this was somehow another trick her traumatized mind was playing on her. But she didn't care. She needed her sister to know she was there. "I'm right here, Icsis!"

Kimberly tried to move toward the door. Her body protested immediately. She reached for the bed. Her fingers curled around the frame. She tried to push. Nothing.

Her legs trembled violently beneath her. "Come on..." She pushed again. The bed barely moved. Kimberly gritted her teeth and tried again, desperation giving her what little strength she had left.

Then Gregor moved past her. She stopped and snapped out of her frantic panic mode. Her eyes lifted toward him as he shoved the bed away from the door. Kimberly didn't say anything. She simply stepped backward. One step. Then another. She stood there completely still, tears continuing to stream down her cheeks. No expression. No words. Just anticipation. Her entire body seemed to be waiting for one thing. The door.

Gregor removed the final barrier. The door opened. And Kimberly saw her. Icsis. Alive. Standing there. The moment Kimberly's eyes landed on her sister, whatever control she had left shattered.

A sob tore from her chest. "Icsis!" She moved forward, stumbling more than walking. Her tears came harder now. She reached her sister and immediately grabbed her, pulling her close. "I thought you—" Her voice broke. She couldn't finish.

Her hands moved over Icsis automatically. Shoulders. Arms. Chest. Sides. Back. Kimberly searched her with frantic eyes. "Are you hurt?" Her hands continued moving. "Where are you hurt?" Then she saw it. Blood. Kimberly froze. Her eyes locked onto the red staining Icsis.

The relief disappeared. Instantly. Her jaw clenched. Her fingers curled into fists. The room seemed to narrow around her. "Who?" Her voice was frighteningly quiet. Kimberly's first punched into the door beside them, with a demonic like strength. In her weakened state, only Kimberly was damaged. Her first bleeding without her noticing. Not even realizing the sting of the punch she landed. She would definitely feel it later.

Kimberly's eyes lifted slowly toward her sister. "Who?" She grabbed Icsis more firmly. "WHO?" Her voice suddenly exploded. She coughed still weak. "WHO WERE YOU WITH?!" Her breathing became ragged. Almost a wheeze dragged out. "WHO DID YOU TRUST?!"

The words came out with raw fury. She wasn't thinking about the gunfire anymore. She wasn't thinking about the people downstairs. She wasn't thinking about Emiliano. All Kimberly could see was blood on her sister. Her sister. Again. Another wound. Another person who had gotten close enough to hurt her.

Kimberly's mind flashed violently through memories. Icsis injured. Blood on her hands. Her treating her. Trying to keep her alive. Then the sound of a gunshot snapped her back again.

Her breathing became faster. "Who did this?"

Kimberly's voice dropped again. Her eyes burned with rage. "Who did you trust?"

Before Icsis could answer, Kimberly grabbed her hand and dragged her into the bedroom. "Inside." She pulled her through the doorway walking weakly. "Get inside."

Kimberly turned immediately and shoved the door closed. Her back hit it. She closed her eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Nothing. Again. Inhale. Exhale. Still nothing. The technique Gregor had taught her wasn't working. Her chest felt too tight. Her hands shook. Her teeth ground together. She was losing control. The rage was coming. Fast. Her fist clenched beside her. Not now.

She opened her eyes. Not now. There were still people outside. There were still people downstairs. Gregor was wounded. Icsis could be wounded. And they needed to get out.

Kimberly forced herself away from the door. "No." She wiped violently at her face. "No, no, no..." Her eyes landed on the makeshift rope. The radiator. The window. Escape. That was what mattered.

She moved toward the rope. Her hands immediately went to the knots Gregor had secured around the radiator. She tested them. Once. Twice. They held. "Okay." Her voice trembled. "Okay."

She looked toward the window. "We're getting out." Kimberly grabbed the rope and began feeding it toward the open window. She pulled more of the sheet through. Then more. Her fingers were shaking badly now, but she kept working.

"Icsis, stay close." She glanced toward her sister. "Don't move away from me." Then she looked toward Gregor. "You're going first." She pointed toward the rope. "You know how much weight this can take better than I do." Her eyes dropped toward his wound. "And you're already hurt." She swallowed. "We need to get you down before you lose more blood."

Kimberly moved toward the window and carefully lowered the makeshift rope outside. She leaned forward just enough to look down. Her mind immediately began calculating. Distance. Landing. Cover. Where the line fell. Where the backyard opened. Where the neighboring house sat. Where the attackers could see them. "There's cover below." She looked back. "We can make it."

Another burst of gunfire echoed outside. Kimberly flinched. Her hands tightened around the rope. She looked at Icsis. Then Gregor. Then back toward the window. "We don't stay here." Her voice became steadier. "We don't fight unless we have to." She wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks. "We get down." Her fingers tightened around the rope. "We get to the SUV." Her eyes hardened. "And we ALL get out."

Kimberly looked at Icsis again. This time, there was no hesitation in her expression. "I just found my sister again." Her voice cracked softly. "I'm not losing her." Then she looked toward Gregor. "And I'm not losing you either." She turned back toward the window. "Let's go."

Kimberly heard what she thought was a mans voice. The booming voice from downstairs reached her through the chaos. “Kimmy! Suit! It’s your favorite neighbor, I have Icsis. She is safe! I’m not here to harm anyone. Hold your fire!”

Kimberly froze. “Icsis.” For one precious second, everything else seemed to disappear. Her sister was alive. Safe. Kimmy's eyes closed briefly as a shaky breath escaped her lungs. The relief was so immediate it almost hurt. She hadn't realized how tightly she'd been holding that fear inside herself until those words finally reached her. “Icsis is safe...” she whispered, almost as if saying it aloud would make it real. Her eyes opened again, and she looked toward Gregor. “She’s safe.”

Her first instinct would of been to run in the gunfire, guns blazing and kill everyone in her path to get to her sister. Then suddenly, Kimberly felt Gregor's hand tighten around hers. For one brief second, that was enough. She followed him. Low. Quiet. Every movement deliberate despite the weakness dragging through her body.

Then Gregor grunted. Kimberly's violet eyes snapped toward him. She saw his hand move toward his side. Blood. Her expression changed immediately. "Gregor..." The name slipped from her lips before she could stop it.

She watched the dark stain spreading beneath his clothing, her mind registering the warmth of blood almost before her emotions caught up with what she was seeing. He had been shot. And he was still moving. Still trying to get her somewhere safe. Still thinking about getting her out. Kimberly's chest tightened. "No." It came out quieter than she intended.

She didn't have time to panic. She couldn't. Not now. She watched him shove the bed toward the door, his movements slower than before. His breathing had changed too. The pain was getting worse. Then he lowered himself. Kimberly immediately crouched beside him. "You're bleeding." It was an obvious statement, but her voice carried something deeper beneath it. Concern. Real concern.

She looked toward the bedroom door. Then toward the open window. Then back to Gregor. His words about Lina echoed through her head. She doesn't act like a willing pawn. Kimberly swallowed. "No..."

Her mind was already working again. "She's not." She shook her head slightly multitasking as she spoke. The medical pouch Lina had left behind was still within reach. Kimberly grabbed it, opening it with hands that weren't nearly as steady as she wanted them to be. "You're right."

The realization was uncomfortable. Lina hadn't attacked them. She had actually given them medical supplies. She had warned them. She had told them to stay inside. And now she was downstairs fighting whatever had followed them here.

Kimberly's gaze hardened. "I was wrong about her." Admitting those words seemed to cost her something. She hated being wrong. Especially when being wrong could have gotten someone killed.

Her eyes returned to Gregor. "How bad is it?" She barely finished the question before her instincts took over. Her hand reached for the hem of his shirt. She lifted it. No permission. No warning. Just one quick movement as she needed to see exactly what she was dealing with.

Her violet eyes dropped to the wound. Blood. She looked slightly behind him. No exit wound. Her expression tightened. "Shit..." She didn't waste time apologizing for exposing his lower abdomen without permission. Instead she began to boss him around. "Hold still." She pressed gauze firmly over the wound, applying pressure. Her fingers trembled slightly. Not from fear. From exhaustion.

She continued her conversation, a way to distract both his and her mind. "But I don't think you're wrong about Emiliano."

Another burst of gunfire tore through the house. Kimberly flinched, then immediately forced herself to breathe. Breathe. His voice from earlier returned to her. She inhaled. Slowly. Then exhaled.

Her hand briefly pressed against the wall as dizziness rolled through her again. The room shifted. Just slightly. Enough to remind her that her body was nowhere near recovered.

She hated that. She hated feeling weak. She hated needing help. But she couldn't afford pride anymore. Not with Gregor bleeding beside her. Not with Icsis somewhere downstairs. Not with twelve heavily armed men moving toward the house.

She could feel her body protesting every movement, but she ignored it. "You're going to need to keep pressure on this." She glanced toward him. "And before you argue with me, I know you're hurt. I can see it."

Her eyes scanned the room. Bed. Mattress. Sheets. Her mind clicked into place.

Kimberly grabbed the nearest sheet. She pulled. It didn't immediately give. She gritted her teeth. "Come on..." She pulled harder. The fabric tore with a sharp ripping sound. Kimberly stumbled backward from the sudden release, catching herself against the side of the bed. She breathed through the dizziness. Then looked down at the torn length of fabric in her hands. "Good enough."

Kimberly's fingers worked quickly over the makeshift bandage, she wrapped what she could around his torso, securing the dressing as tightly as carefully as she could. Kimberly shifted closer, using the wall to steady herself as she worked. 

Then suddenly she looked down at her fingers. Blood. For some reason, the sight of it pulled something loose inside her mind.

For half a second, the bedroom disappeared. She wasn't looking at Gregor anymore. She was looking at Icsis. A younger memory. Icsis sitting in front of her, injured and trying far too hard to pretend she was fine while Kimberly worked on her wounds. Especially the one on her back.

Kimmy remembered the way her hands had moved then. Steady. Familiar. The quiet concentration in her expression as she cleaned the injury, checked for damage, and wrapped it carefully. "Hold still." The same words. The same instinct. Take care of her. Keep her alive. Protect her.

The memory shifted. Icsis's face. Her sister's eyes. Kimberly's hands covered in blood. Then....A gunshot.

The bedroom snapped back into focus.

Kimberly's head jerked slightly. She blinked. Once. Twice. Her breathing caught. She shook her head sharply, as if physically trying to throw the memory away. "No..."

Her eyes focused on Gregor again. He was still there. Still bleeding. Still alive. She swallowed hard.

Gregor mentioned climbing out. Kimberly's eyes immediately went to the window. For a moment, she simply stared at him. Then her hands went back to work. She gently grabbed his hands into hers and then placed them on his makeshift bandage. "Please, try and pull that as tight as you can."

Kimberly stared at him for a moment before weakly making her way back over to the bed sheets.  "I need to stay focused." The words came quietly. Almost like she was reminding herself.

She tightened another knot in the torn sheet, her fingers trembling slightly. Her mind wanted to go back to Icsis. Wanted to know where she was. Whether she was hurt. Whether she was alive through all the chaos downstairs. But Kimberly couldn't let herself disappear into that fear. Not now. Not while Gregor was depending on her.

She ripped another section free. And another. The sound of tearing fabric mixed with the distant gunfire. Kimberly worked quickly, gathering the pieces together.

Her violet eyes lifted toward him. Then she looked toward the window. The distance wasn't impossible. But getting Gregor down safely was another problem entirely.

She moved toward it carefully, keeping low. She didn't stand fully. She couldn't risk it. Instead, she crawled the last few feet and peered through the opening. Her mind began measuring everything. Distance to the ground. Position of the neighboring property. Visibility from the street. Possible cover. Possible escape routes. Her eyes moved quickly.

"There." She pointed. "The neighboring house." Her breathing remained controlled now. "If we get out this window, we don't go toward the street." Her eyes tracked the backyards. "Too exposed."

Another burst of gunfire sounded below. Kimberly's jaw tightened. "We go behind the houses." She looked back at Gregor. "Trees. Fences. Shadows. Anything that breaks the line of sight." Her eyes briefly dropped toward his injury. Then back to the window.

"But you can't climb like that." There was no accusation in her voice. Only fact. She moved back toward him. Kimberly lowered herself beside him again.

Kimberly's eyes remained fixed on Gregor. She glanced toward the window. Then back to the makeshift rope. "And I'm not about to lose either of you tonight." She pulled another length of sheet through the knot and tested it.

It held. Kimberly nodded once. "Okay." She looked toward Gregor. "Now we get you out of here."

She took one of the longer strips and moved back toward Gregor. "This goes around you." She carefully wrapped the torn sheet around his torso, over the medical dressing. "Pull it tight."

She paused. Her hands weren't strong enough anymore. Kimberly hated admitting it. Her jaw tightened. "I can't." Her violet eyes lifted toward his. "I'm too weak to tighten it properly."

She held the loose ends toward him. "You do it."

Kimberly secured the ends as best she could before immediately returning to the bed. She mustered up as much strength as she could and grabbed more sheets. More blankets. Anything long enough. Anything strong enough.

She began tying the pieces together. One knot. Then another. Then another. Her fingers fumbled with one. She cursed quietly under her breath and tried again.

The gunfire downstairs grew louder. Kimberly's breathing quickened. Not panic. Calculation. She pulled another section free. "Come on..."

She tied it to the next piece. Then tested the connection with both hands. It held.

She looked toward the window again. "We can use this." Her voice was steadier now. "I'll get the line out first." She began feeding the makeshift rope toward the window. "We need something that'll hold your weight long enough to get you down." Her eyes moved toward the bed frame. Then the wall. Then the window. She was calculating anchors. Anything that could keep the sheets from simply sliding through the opening.

Kimberly suddenly stopped. Her head tilted slightly. Another burst of gunfire. She closed her eyes for half a second. "Breathe." Gregor's voice. Again. She inhaled. Then exhaled. Her eyes opened. "I'm okay." Whether she was trying to convince him or herself was impossible to tell.

She returned to the sheets. Her hands moved faster now. Tie. Pull. Test. Another section. Tie. Pull. Test.

Her body was exhausted, her head still swimming, but her mind had finally found something it could focus on. An escape. A way out. A way to keep Gregor alive. And maybe, if luck finally decided to stop being cruel to her for five minutes, a way to get back to Icsis.

Kimberly looked toward Gregor. "You said you weren't going to let me become anyone's slave." Her voice was quieter now. She glanced down at the makeshift rope in her hands. "Then don't make me drag your stubborn ass out of this house by myself."

A faint smile touched her lips. It disappeared almost immediately. "Help me get you out." She tightened another knot. "And then we find my sister."

She huffed, nearly out of fumes again. "You said we could climb out." A faint, almost humorless smile touched her lips. "Then we're climbing out."

She paused. "But you're not leaving me behind." Her voice softened. "And I'm not leaving you behind." The words were simple. Yet they carried more weight than she intended.

Kimberly looked away for half a second. She was still learning what it meant to trust someone. And now she was realizing something far more frightening. She wasn't simply trusting Gregor to save her. She was choosing to save him too. Even if it meant putting herself in danger. Even if her body was barely cooperating. Even if every survival instinct inside her screamed that she should save herself first.

Her eyes returned to him. "Can you move?" She waited only a second before adding, "And before you tell me you're fine..." Her expression sharpened. "I've watched enough people bleed to know what fine doesn't look like."

Another explosion of gunfire echoed from downstairs. Kimberly didn't look away from him. "Tell me the truth, Gregor." Her voice was calm. Almost unnervingly calm. "How bad is it?"

Kimberly stared at Lina. For several seconds, she didn't understand. The woman's words didn't fit. Emiliano? Her brows pulled together as confusion slowly replaced the cold calculation that had been keeping her upright. Lina hadn't said the name like someone who had been sent by him. She hadn't acted like someone who had been given a direct order to kill her. Instead, she was talking about some unknown number. A message. Coordinates. A kill order.

Kimberly's lips parted slightly. "Emiliano...?" she whispered, almost to herself. Her violet eyes flicked between Lina and Gregor, trying desperately to make the pieces fit together. The more she tried to connect them, the less sense any of it made.

Then Lina offered to show them the message. Kimberly's entire expression changed. "I want to see it." The words came faster than she intended. She pushed herself away from the wall slightly, despite the weakness still pulling at her legs. "I want to see the message."

She needed it. More than anything. She needed to know what had actually been sent. What had actually been said. Whether Emiliano had truly sent Lina. Whether the coordinates had come from him. Whether the words Run, bunny. Run had been connected to this somehow. She needed something real. Something she could hold in her hands and analyze instead of the scattered fragments her traumatized mind had been desperately trying to assemble.

Gregor immediately agreed. "Yes, yes, let's see that. Let's get to the bottom of—" Kimberly's eyes snapped toward him. For that brief second, everything else disappeared. He wanted to see it too. He wanted answers. The realization gave her a tiny flicker of relief. Maybe she wasn't the only one who thought something was wrong. Maybe she wasn't imagining it. Maybe there really was something much bigger happening.

Kimberly's fingers slowly curled into a fist. Her mind began racing again. Unknown number. Coordinates. Lina. Emiliano. Gregor. The Syndicate. The people downstairs. Too many variables. Too many missing pieces. And every time she thought she had finally found the answer, another piece shattered it.

Her fist tightened. The confusion began turning into anger. Not the controlled anger she could normally manipulate into something useful. Something hotter. Something unstable. Her breathing became heavier. "Then why..." She stopped herself. Her jaw clenched. "Why the hell would—"

The sound of gunfire erupted downstairs. Kimberly flinched violently calming her oncoming rage.

The first shot cracked through the house. Then another. Then another. The entire world seemed to explode around them.

Her anger vanished beneath a surge of adrenaline. Her violet eyes widened as the reality of the situation slammed back into her. They didn't have time. The shouting downstairs became louder. Footsteps. More gunfire. Something crashed violently against the floor below. Kimberly's body instinctively pressed harder against the wall.

Then Gregor spoke. "If I have any say, you will never be slave again." The word hit her harder than the gunfire. Slave. Kimberly went completely still. Her expression emptied. Slave. The word echoed through her mind. Had she been one her entire life?

Her thoughts began moving somewhere she didn't want them to go. A daughter expected to obey. A woman expected to marry. A mafia bride expected to belong to someone. A sister who had spent years putting herself in danger for someone else. A woman who had saved people who eventually betrayed her. A woman who had been drugged. Caged. Tracked. Hunted. Controlled. Was that all she'd ever been? Just someone's possession in one form or another? Was that why every time she tried to run, someone reached out and dragged her back into another cage?

Kimberly's throat tightened. Would she ever actually escape? Or would she simply trade one master for another?

Her eyes slowly lifted toward Gregor. He hadn't said it like a threat. He had said it like a promise. And somehow that made the word hurt even more. Because a small, exhausted part of her desperately wanted to believe him.

Another burst of gunfire snapped her back. Kimberly sucked in a sharp breath. "No." Her eyes darted toward the hallway. She couldn't stay here. The bathroom was a trap. One entrance. Barely any cover. If someone pushed through that doorway, there would be nowhere for them to go.

Her mind began calculating. Downstairs? Too much gunfire. Too many unknown variables. The stairs were exposed. The front door was compromised. The bathroom? A death box. The bedroom.

Her eyes shifted toward it. A window. Furniture. More space. Another possible exit. Cover. A better angle.

Her mind worked through the possibilities almost instantly. The bedroom was the only option. Not a good option. Just the least terrible one.

Kimberly looked at Gregor. "The bedroom." Her voice was quiet but certain. She pushed herself upright, though her legs immediately trembled beneath her. "The bedroom is our best choice."

Another shot rang out. Kimberly didn't even flinch this time. Her eyes remained locked on Gregor. "Bathroom has one entrance and no real cover. The stairs are exposed, and downstairs is already compromised."

She took another breath. Her newly learned tactic from Gregor helping her regain control of her emotions. "The bedroom has a window. Furniture we can use for cover. And if we have to get out, we have another exit."

Her gaze briefly shifted toward the doorway. Then back to Gregor. "We go there." She hesitated for only a heartbeat. Her voice softened. "And we need to move now."

Kimberly's fingers brushed against the wall as she steadied herself. The dizziness returned. The weakness. The exhaustion.

But beneath all of it, something else was beginning to return. The part of Kimmy that survived. The part that calculated. The part that refused to become anyone's slave.

And for the first time, she wasn't calculating only how to save herself or her sister. She was calculating how to get both of them out alive. In order to do that, even for just a few moments, she had to trust Gregor.

A flash of memory when Gregor held out his hand to her at the safehouse flashed quickly in her mind. She did something she hated doing the most. She trusted him and held her hand out, reaching for him to help her run with him. "I...I'm ready.." her eyes looked away embarrassed for just a moment, before turning her gaze back to his eyes. Pulling in whatever strength she had left in her to prepare to run, roll, and dodge if needed.

The sound of Gregor saying her name stopped her cold. “Kimmy.” Kimberly's breath hitched. Not because the name was unfamiliar. Because of the way it sounded coming from him. Her violet eyes slowly lifted toward his face, studying him with an expression she couldn't quite hide. There was something strangely intimate about hearing that name from his mouth after everything that had happened. A name she had just given him. A tiny piece of herself she hadn't intended to surrender. And God, how badly she wanted to believe him. You will see her again. She wanted those words to be true. She wanted to believe that Icsis was still alive. That she could get to her. That Gregor would actually help her get there. She wanted, desperately, to trust the man standing in front of her.

Then...A voice downstairs. Kimberly's entire body tensed. Her heart seemed to slam against her ribs so violently it hurt. Another voice. Then movement. Her violet eyes snapped toward the bathroom doorway. They were here. The sound of a door slamming somewhere below sent another pulse of adrenaline through her weakened body. No.

Her mind began moving faster than her body could keep up with. Escape routes. Window. Hallway. Stairs. Bedroom. Could she make it to the roof? Could she jump? No. Too high. Too weak. She'd never make it down the stairs without being seen. One thing she knew, was that she couldn't die. Not yet. Not before Icsis had the briefcase. Not before she could tell her one last thing....She wasn't afraid of dying, but she was afraid of not completing her mission before she died.

Her eyes darted toward Gregor's weapon. The gun. For one brief, dangerous second, Kimberly considered taking it. Her mind immediately calculated the distance. His position. Her reaction time. The angle. She could reach for it. Maybe. But then another thought surfaced. What if I miss?

That possibility had never frightened her before. Kimmy had been trained to dodge bullets. To read body language. To anticipate movement before a weapon was even raised. She had survived situations where other people would've died simply because she was faster. But Gregor had shot her. Easily. And that was the part she couldn't ignore. He had caught her when she was already running on fumes. Her dehydration had been worse than she let anyone see. She had hidden the weakness because admitting it would have made her vulnerable, it would have made Icsis even more protective and vulnerable.

Her reaction time had been slower. Her body had been slower. And now after being shot and loosing blood after already being dehydrated? Now she was even weaker. Her legs trembled beneath her. Her head still felt strangely light. If she reached for that gun and failed, Gregor could get hurt. That thought landed harder than it should have.

Kimberly's eyes lingered on him. Why do I care? She didn't have an answer. She only knew that she didn't want to watch him get shot because she had made a desperate mistake. Another heavy sound came from downstairs. Kimmy's heart throbbed. Time was disappearing.

Her eyes moved toward the doorway again. The voice. She knew that voice. Or at least she thought she did. Lina. Her stomach twisted. Emiliano. The message flashed through her mind with brutal clarity. Run, bunny. Run. And beneath it, The threat. The mercenary. Someone was coming for her.

Kimberly had spent the last few moments trying to understand why he had betrayed her, and now the pieces were rearranging themselves again. Emiliano had sent the message. Emiliano knew where she was. And now Lina was here. Kimmy's mind made the connection, even if it wasn't true, before she could stop it. He sent her.

Her chest tightened. He sent Lina to finish it.

She didn't know about the other woman, who may have actually been sent by Emiliano. She didn't know who else might be downstairs. All Kimberly knew was that the woman whose voice she recognized had found the safehouse. And she believed she was there to kill her.

Her fear didn't show itself as panic. It became calculation. Kimberly slowly shifted her weight, keeping herself close to the wall.

She wasn't going to call out after she heard Gregor speaking to Lina. She wasn't going to announce herself. She wasn't going to give Lina the satisfaction of knowing exactly where she was.

If Emiliano had sent her, then Lina was expecting a frightened woman. A woman who would surrender. A woman who would run. A woman who would make a mistake. Worst of all, Lina knew she was injured, just not how bad of shape she was in.

Kimmy could give her none of those things. Her gaze flicked toward Gregor's gun again with his hands raised. Then back toward the doorway. She had one weapon left. Her mind. And that had always been the most dangerous one.

She swallowed, forcing her breathing to slow despite the violent pounding in her chest. If Lina really had been sent by Emiliano, then perhaps she didn't know everything. Perhaps she could be reasoned with. Perhaps she could be bought. Or, more importantly...Perhaps she could be made to understand that Emiliano would betray her too.

Kimberly knew men like him, now that she categorized him as a traitor. They didn't keep promises. They kept useful people alive until they weren't useful anymore. She could work with that. She could make Lina question the order. She could make her hesitate. And hesitation was enough.

Sometimes, all Kimmy needed was a few seconds, buying time. Luck always seemed to find its way to her when she bought time.

Her eyes shifted toward Gregor once more. He had told her he would help her. He had saved her. He hadn't killed her when he had every reason to. And now he was standing between her and the people coming upstairs. Her heart tightened. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that he meant what he said. But if she was wrong...He could die because of her.

Kimberly's fingers curled against the wall. No. She couldn't let that happen. Not him. Not after he had just saved her. This time it's different.

She told herself. The sound of movement outside the bathroom drew closer. Kimberly's expression hardened. She wasn't going to fight Lina head-on. Not like this. Not while her body was this weak. She would talk. She would have to risk leaking some information. She would charm. She would manipulate. Whatever it took.

And if Lina truly had been sent by Emiliano, Kimmy would make sure she understood exactly what kind of man had sent her. Her target was no longer anyone who crossed her or harmed her sister, it was now Emiliano at the top of the list.

Kimberly took one slow breath. Then another. Just like Gregor had shown her. Her violet eyes settled toward the open bathroom doorway, her face becoming eerily calm despite the fear pounding through her.

If this woman had come to kill her, then Kimmy would give her a reason not to pull the trigger. And if Emiliano had promised Lina anything for completing the job, Kimmy would make damn sure she understood that he would betray her the moment she stopped being useful.

Kimberly wasn't trying to outrun the person hunting her. She was preparing to outsmart them.

Her voice came softly from the bathroom, deliberately calm. Her throat slightly recovered from the hydration she had just recently consumed. “Lina.” She let the name hang in the air for a moment. “I know you're there.” Kimberly didn't step into the doorway. She didn't need to. Instead, she kept her back against the wall, forcing her voice to remain steady. “And before you decide to do whatever Emiliano sent you here to do... I think you should hear me out.”

A faint, humorless smile touched her lips. Her mind and body getting into character for her spout. “Because if he told you this was simple, he lied.” Kimberly's eyes flicked briefly toward Gregor before returning to the doorway.

“He probably told you I'm dangerous. That I'm unpredictable. That I can't be trusted.” She paused, careful with what she disclosed in case she was giving away too much. “He probably didn't tell you that I saved him more times that not. And here he is betraying me, leaving me to die.”

Her voice remained quiet. Trying not to let the pain of betrayal come through in her words. “He didn't tell you about the message either, did he?” Kimberly swallowed. “Run, bunny. Run.” The words carried something colder now. “That's what he sent me before he sent someone after me.” She shifted slightly, wincing at the weakness in her legs but refusing to let it enter her voice. "Before sending YOU after me...."

She swallowed, hoping she was correct. “Think about that, Lina.” She paused giving her a moment to process before she continued. “He knew where I was. He knew I was running. And instead of coming for me himself, he sent someone else.”

A beat of silence. "The same person he sent earlier to help me...he now sent to kill me." She gave one of her evil laughs. This time a quick annoyed "Ha!" before she continued.

“Why?” Kimberly's head tilted slightly. Still not knowing the reason herself, but she used a bit of a guess to continue with her persuasion. “Because that's what Emiliano does.” Her voice softened, the betrayal hitting her in the gut again.

“He doesn't protect people, Lina. He uses them.” she sighs. “You're useful to him right now. That's why you're here right now, alive for now, with a gun instead of lying somewhere beside the rest of the people he decided were expendable.”

Kimberly allowed that thought to settle. “And when you're no longer useful?” Her eyes hardened. “Do you honestly think he'll hesitate?” Silence.

Kimberly took another breath. Gregor's strategy truly working on her inner demon staying inside so she doesn't lash out thinking of the anger boiling up inside of her before she continued.

“I don't know what he promised you.” “Money? Protection? Information?” A small, knowing smile appeared. “Maybe he promised you something that matters a lot more than any of those things.” She paused again. “But ask yourself one question before you pull that trigger.” “Why didn't Emiliano come himself?”

Kimberly's voice dropped almost to a whisper. “Because he doesn't want his hands dirty. He's a coward. And he is too afraid to face me himself.”

She glanced toward Gregor again. “And if he sent you here to kill me, then there's a very good chance he already has someone else lined up to kill you once you've done it.”

Kimberly slowly straightened as much as her weakened body allowed. “I don't need you to trust me.” “I don't expect you to.” Her violet eyes remained fixed toward the doorway. “But you don't have to trust me to question him. That is all I'm saying.”

A small pause. “Question him.” she pauses wondering the answer to the next question herself. “Ask him why he didn't come.” She huffed in anger. “Ask him what happens to you after you finish this? Ask him whether he intends to let you walk away knowing everything you know now?”

Kimberly's expression softened, becoming almost sympathetic. “Because if I'm wrong, Lina...” She gave a faint shrug. “Then you lose nothing by finding out.” She pauses to catch her breath, her legs weakening from standing so long. “But if I'm right?” Her gaze sharpened. “Then pulling that trigger doesn't make you loyal.” she swallowed before making her next comment. “It makes you disposable.”

Kimberly let the silence stretch. Then, quieter: “You don't have to kill me tonight. You can walk away. We can talk.” She gave conditions, “No tricks. No sudden moves.”

Her eyes briefly flicked toward Gregor's weapon before returning toward the hall. “And if you still decide I'm lying after you hear everything I have to say...” Kimberly's lips curved into the faintest smile. “Then you can kill me yourself AFTER I finish something first. I promise you I will deliver myself to you personally.”

She held the silence for another heartbeat. “But don't die for a man who wouldn't bleed for you.” Her voice became almost impossibly soft. “Especially when you haven't even asked him what you're worth to him.”

Kimberly's eyes narrowed. “Because I already know what you're worth to Emiliano.” A pause as she clinched her first.

“You're worth exactly as much as your usefulness.” She took one final breath. “And I'm offering you the chance to make sure you're worth more than that.”

His voice reached her. "Breathe. Breathe. Come on, you can do it." Kimberly froze. Her violet eyes lifted toward him in genuine surprise. For a moment, she simply stared. The instruction was so simple. So ordinary. Yet somehow, hearing someone calmly tell her to breathe made something inside her finally pause.

Her crying stopped. Not gradually. It simply stopped. Her lips parted slightly as she stared at him, almost as if she couldn't understand why those two words had affected her so deeply. She took an uncertain breath. Then another.

Kimberly didn't fight him when Gregor took her arm. For once, there was no sharp retort, no attempt to pull herself free, no calculated maneuver to regain control of the situation. Her body simply didn't have enough left in it. She let him guide her. Her legs felt weak beneath her, each step toward the bathroom requiring more effort than she wanted to admit. The exhaustion from everything that had happened seemed to have settled deep into her bones, leaving her feeling strangely weightless and unbearably heavy all at once. Gregor guided her farther into the bathroom, and Kimberly willingly followed him, her weakened body allowing him to steady her rather than fighting against his touch.

When they reached the bathroom, she allowed herself to lean against the wall beside the open doorway. Her shoulder pressed against the cool surface as she watched Gregor move. The bare of her exposed back in her crop top against the cool wall sent a small chill up her back and down her arm, goosebumps appearing.

Every movement. Every little detail. She watched him reach for the faucet. Watched him cup his hand beneath the running water. Then watched him drink. Her violet eyes remained fixed on him as his throat moved with each swallow, the subtle rise and fall of his Adam's apple strangely captivating in the quiet bathroom. Her heart skipped a beat. Kimberly immediately hated that it had.

She swallowed dryly, her mouth painfully parched as she watched him swallow the water himself. It wasn't the water she was afraid of. It was the glass he gave her earlier. She hadn't watched him prepare it. She hadn't know what would happen even if she took a sip if it would stay down even if it was safe.

Being drugged. Losing control. Waking up somewhere she hadn't chosen to be. Her mind flashed backward to just three days prior after she has been rescued by Emiliano. A glass lifted cautiously toward her lips. One small sip. Then nausea. Her body rejecting it almost instantly.

Another drink days later. The same thing. A few mouthfuls of water. Vomiting. A bottle someone handed her. A glass sitting untouched in front of her. Every time, the same question screaming through her head. What if they drugged this too?

She had escaped, but her body apparently hadn't understood that yet. She could look at something as simple as a drink and see a threat. She could feel thirsty enough to ache and still be unable to convince herself that swallowing was safe.

And that was beginning to frighten her. Because she was starting to realize just how badly dehydrated she actually was.

Gregor's words broke through the memories. Kimberly looked toward him as he spoke about the water being safe, about how he wouldn't poison her if he wanted her dead.

A small smile slowly appeared across her exhausted face. Not because she believed he would never hurt her. And certainly not because she thought the water needed to be tested for poison.

The smile was there because she finally understood what he was actually trying to do. He was trying to comfort her. He was trying to make her drink. And somehow, that realization was almost more unsettling than anything else.

Her voice, when it finally came, was calm and dry. "Poison isn't my fear...." She paused. Her eyes dropped toward the running faucet. "It's being drugged." The admission came quietly. Almost reluctantly. She looked back at him. "Every time I've tried to drink something since I escaped, my body just...."

Her lips pressed together. She didn't finish. She didn't have to. The memories were enough.

Kimberly slowly pushed from the wall. Her knees nearly buckled. She caught herself against the counter before leaning down toward the faucet. She needed water. She needed something to make her body cooperate again. She lowered her mouth beneath the running stream and took a cautious drink. Then another.

She waited. Her body didn't revolt. She took another swallow. Nothing. Kimberly froze. For several seconds, she simply remained there, bent over the sink, as though waiting for the inevitable sickness to come. It didn't.

Her breathing caught. She swallowed again. Still nothing. For the first time in days, something she drank actually stayed down. Her eyes slowly widened.

She hadn't realized how desperately she needed that until that moment. She took another drink. Then another. Some of the water splashed across her face as she drank too quickly, droplets running over her cheeks and down her chin.

She straightened slowly. Water dripped from her face. Her lips were wet, droplets collecting along them as she leaned her back against the wall again and took several slow breaths.

She closed her eyes for just a moment. It's just water. She repeated it silently. It's just water.

Her violet eyes opened again. They found Gregor. And for the first time since she'd escaped, there was something different in them. He asked for information. He asked about the reason he'd been hired. The suitcase. The computers. Her name. And then he asked the question that stopped her completely. Do you trust me?

Kimberly stared at him. For several seconds, she said nothing. Trust. The word itself felt foreign now. She had trusted people before. That was how she ended up where she was. She trusted the wrong person.

She trusted promises. She trusted family. She trusted someone enough to believe that she could safely see her sister one last time.

To Kimmy, trust meant that someone could take that trust and turned it into a weapon. Yet Gregor was different. She didn't understand why. He had been sent to kill her. That much she knew from the burn on her arm to the gunshot that could of been in her head just hours before.

But he hadn't. He had saved her. He could have left her. Could have finished the job. Could have delivered her wherever she was supposed to go. Instead, he had dragged her out of danger and brought her somewhere he apparently considered safe.

Kimberly slowly pushed herself upright. She was still dizzy. Still exhausted. Still afraid. But something inside her was beginning to switch back on.

She took another cautious look towards him and the looked away and said quietly. "You can call me Kimmy...." She let the name hang between them. It was such a small thing. Yet giving him her name felt enormous.

Kimberly took a slow breath. The betrayal she had just gone through made every piece of information feel dangerous to release. Her mind was already trying to calculate what she had said. What she shouldn't say. What Gregor could infer. What he might already know.

But something in her gut kept telling her that this man wasn't Emiliano. She had saved Emiliano time and time again and he saved her once....days ago. Something didn't sit right with it. Before she let her mind dive deeper into it she thought of something extremely important. Emiliano had never killed for her. Yet Gregor did.

Gregor had never demanded anything from her. He hadn't saved her because she belonged to him. He had simply saved her. Even if they had just met hours ago, Kimberly couldn't ignore that fact.

Her violet eyes settled on him. "Let's just say you just saved a runaway mafia bride. An unwilling one..." Her voice remained quiet. "The fact that you were sent to kill me is confusing...." She paused.

"But one thing I know is someone will try and take me away from here." Her fingers curled slightly against the wall. "They won't necessarily want to kill me." Her voice tightened. "They'll want to torture me. Break me. Make me his slave of a wife. Make me wish I was dead everyday." The words tasted bitter as she tried to not think about what she had encountered just days before.

"But my sister...." Her voice faltered. "They will kill her if she doesn't surrender. And you have met her, she isn't the type to surrender." Kimberly looked away.

"There is someone after me who wants me technically dead. But they wouldn't have the organizational skills to hire your type....or do they?"

Her mind was already rebuilding the puzzle. Pieces connecting. Pieces separating. Her intelligence network, dormant beneath the fear and exhaustion, was beginning to switch itself back on. "So you must have been hired by the Syndicate." She stopped. Her eyes narrowed.

Remembering when the other man had asked him to hand me over, yet Gregor was there, guns blazing ready to eliminate her. Something didn't add up. Too much. She was giving him too much.

Kimberly immediately leaned forward again, lowering herself toward the faucet for another drink. The water ran over her lips as she tried to think. She had to trust him. She had to trust her gut this time. Even if every instinct she'd ever developed screamed at her not to trust anyone.

She lifted her head. "I don't know everything." Her voice was softer now. "But I know the same person who saved me when they caught me the first time...." She swallowed. "...and led me to my sister..." Her eyes closed briefly. "...is the same person who betrayed me."

A memory flashed silently in her head as her heart weighed heavy. A nice memory of Emiliano smiling looking at her after saving her, "I won't be anyone's caged rabbit." She said to Emiliano furiously as he hands were clenched and her ankle red from the cuff she had on it for days he was applying medicine to. He just smiled and looked up at her, "Mi hermana....you are no caged rabbit. You are a free little bunny. Free to run wherever you want. After I fix you up, you can run free little bunny."

Her eyes opened again. "We have to leave here." The urgency returned. "I was being tracked through that phone. The phone that was supposed to save me."

Her brow furrowed. Maybe it was the dehydration. Maybe the trauma. Maybe something deeper. She couldn't tell anymore.

Her voice cracked slightly. "I just...." Kimberly drew in a shaky breath. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Her eyes dropped.

The woman who had spent years surviving by calculation suddenly looked painfully young beneath the exhaustion. "I just wanted to see her one last time...."

Kimberly saw the phone light up. The phone was made to send messages. He said nothing about her receiving them. Receiving a message was never good. She moved it close to her face and held her thumb on a finger scanner. The phone light up, a laser scanner her retina and her thumb. Kimberly finally touched the notification. The screen opened. For a moment, there was nothing but a blank message. Then the words appeared. "Still carrying my little phone, I see. I wondered how long it would take you to realize the trail wasn't leading you to your sister. I'm sending your little mercenary to your location now to come hunt you down. Maybe she will do her job right this time. Run, little bunny. Run, little bunny. Run." Kimberly froze.

Her violet, almost pink eyes stared at the screen without blinking. No.

Her breathing stopped for a second. She knew those words.

Not because they were familiar in some vague way. Because they were his. Little bunny. He always called her that...

The person she 'coincidently' kept running into. The person she had saved. The person who had built this phone. The person who had given it to her. The person who had given her the location that led her to Icsis. The person she had trusted enough to believe the phone itself was secure and enough for him to know her sisters location to begin with.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the device. "...You." Her hands shook a little. The word barely escaped her lips.

A cold realization settled into her stomach. He knows. Not just about the phone. Not just about her. He knew where she was. He had found her. And somehow, after everything, he had been watching, or at least tracking. Calculating.

Kimberly's eyes darted around the unfamiliar room. Her mind began firing through possibilities faster than she could process them. How? When? Was the phone compromised before tonight? Did he know where Icsis was before that night he 'helped' her track her down? Did he send me there on purpose? Her breathing became faster, more aggressive. She squeeze the phone tighter. He betrayed me...I risk so much saving his ass....He was my friend. I trusted him....Fine! Trust no one. Never...trust anyone.....

Then she heard movement. Kimberly's head snapped toward the doorway. Gregor.

Her breath hitched. For one tiny, involuntary moment, something warm sparked inside her chest. He's alive. Relief? Excitement? Something dangerously close to happiness?

He hadn't left her. He hadn't been killed. He was still here. Then the emotion twisted.

Because suddenly Kimberly remembered everything. Her screaming. Her fear. Her calling his name over and over while she was barely conscious. Gregor. Gregor! ACCOUNTANT!

She had been vulnerable. Terrified. She had let him see her like that. And now he was simply walking into the room as though nothing had happened.

Her violet eyes followed him the entire time. Every step. Every movement. She watched him approach without saying a word. Her expression tightened. Why didn't you answer me? The question burned through her, but she dare not say it out loud.

When he finally sat beside her, Kimberly's gaze dropped toward the glass of water he had placed nearby. Her throat burned. Her mouth was so dry it hurt. She wanted it. God, she wanted it. But her hand didn't move. She stared at the water. Then at him.

Her instincts screamed at her not to trust it. She had learned that lesson the hard way. Drinks could be drugged. People could lie. Kindness could be a trap. Trust no one.

Her throat moved in a painfully dry swallow. She still didn't touch it. She clinched her teeth. Angry. Upset. Confused. Scared. On the verge of rage.

Then her eyes drifted back toward the phone. Run, little bunny. Run. She read it again.

Then the screen suddenly flickered. Kimberly's brows pulled together. "What...?" The display glitched. For half a second, the message disappeared. Then the entire screen filled with distorted symbols. The phone flickered again. Kimberly's eyes widened. "No."

The screen changed. A series of characters flashed across it. Then a location indicator appeared. Her location. Kimberly's blood ran cold. "They found me." The words came out barely above a whisper. Then the realization hit her completely. The phone wasn't just compromised. Someone had gotten inside it. Someone had found her. But didn't he already say he found her? Or did the someone else find her besides him?

Her fear instantly transformed into rage. "NO!" With what little strength remained in her body, Kimberly hurled the phone across the room.

It slammed against the wall. CRACK! The screen shattered. Pieces of plastic and glass scattered across the floor. Kimberly screamed. Her blood curling banshee scream when she had nearly completely lost it.

Her voice cracked violently. Then she coughed. Her dry throat fighting against her rage in her weak state.

She realized Gregor was close to her. She didn't even realize she had started crying again. The tears came faster this time. She hated them. Hated the weakness. Hated the phone. Hated that her sister was in danger because of her. Hated him for betraying her. Her friend. One of the only people she had trusted with her and her sisters lives.

And most of all—She hated that she didn't know what to do.

Her violet eyes snapped toward Gregor. "You—!"

She smacked over the glass of water her had left on the side for her to drink. Letting it shatter into large pieces once it hit the ground. Water spilled all over the floor. Some of it leaking towards her boot. She picked up a piece of glass, the sharp ragged edge cutting just her fingertip when she picked it up and she tossed it across the room in a fit. It crashed against the same wall the phone hit and shattered into even smaller pieces.

Her tear filled eyes flashed back at Gregor angrily. Her fist struck his leg. Once. Weakly. Then again. And again.

Each hit weaker than the last, but fueled by pure frustration. "You were supposed to—" THUD. "—know what to do!" THUD. "You were supposed to—" Her voice broke. THUD. "—help me!" Her strength finally failed her. Kimberly's hand grabbed desperately onto Gregor's leg, her fingers curling tightly into the fabric as though letting go would make the entire world collapse around her. She pressed her forehead against his leg. Her other hand covered her eyes.

And finally, silently, she broke. Her shoulders trembled. The tears and blood from her fingertip soaked into the fabric beneath her face as she cried as quietly as she could. No clever words. No manipulation. No charm. No plan. Just Kimberly. Lost. Terrified. And completely overwhelmed by the realization that, for the first time in a very long time, she genuinely had no idea what to do next.

Kimberly's eyes slowly fluttered open. For several seconds, she didn't move. Her mind was foggy, heavy, struggling to piece together where she was. The last thing she remembered was the rain hammering against the windshield, the warmth of Gregor's jacket around her shoulders, and his voice beside her as he drove.

The car. Her eyes snapped open wider. The car. Kimberly immediately pushed herself upright, her breathing quickening as she looked around the unfamiliar room.

"Gregor?" Her voice came out hoarse and barely audible. Nothing. She looked toward the doorway. "Gregor?" Still nothing.

A sudden knot formed in her chest. She didn't understand why. Then a single tear slipped down her cheek. Kimberly froze. Her fingers slowly touched the tear as if she couldn't understand what it was doing there. "What...?"

She stared at the moisture on her fingertip, genuinely confused. She wasn't supposed to be crying. She didn't cry. Not like this. Her mind suddenly jumped to the worst possible conclusion. I was in the car... I passed out... now I'm somewhere else...

Her eyes widened. I was kidnapped. Panic surged through her. She looked toward the door and shouted with whatever strength she could force from her battered body. "ACCOUNTANT!" The word echoed through the room. A cough left from her chest as her dry throat angered from the irritation of the yell.

Silence. Kimberly's heart dropped. Then the realization hit her. Shit. If someone had taken her, she had just yelled his callsign.

She may have just told whoever had her exactly who had been with her. Her breathing became faster. "No... no, no...What am I doing....get it together...."

She quickly wiped the tear from her face, then another, becoming increasingly frustrated with herself. "Get it together, Kimberly." She forced herself to take a breath. Then another.

She straightened her shoulders, trying desperately to rebuild that familiar confidence. Think. She needed information. Where was she? Who brought her here? Where was Gregor? Where was Icsis? And most importantly— Where's the briefcase?

Her eyes immediately began scanning the room. She pushed herself off the bed. Her legs barely cooperated. One step. Then another. Her knees suddenly buckled. THUD. Kimberly hit the floor hard.

She sucked in a breath, gripping the edge of the bed as she tried to keep herself upright. She looked at her arm, wrapped different. She reached in her boot and felt the curve of the knife handle. It's still here....I wasn't kidnapped. They would of stripped me of all my weapons....But...was I hidden? Did Gregor lead them off while he hid me? What is happening?

Her body felt impossibly weak. She hadn't eaten. She hadn't had anything to drink. Not all day.

The blood loss, exhaustion, cold, and dehydration had finally caught up with her. "Come on..."

She tried to push herself up. Her arms trembled. "No... no, I need..." Her eyes continued searching. And then she saw it. The briefcase. Relief immediately washed across her face.

She dragged herself toward it, her fingers finally closing around the handle. She pulled it against her chest protectively. Still here. Still locked. Still safe. Kimberly closed her eyes for a moment, breathing heavily as she held onto it.

Then another thought struck her. Phone. Her hand immediately went toward her back pocket. She felt it. Still there.

Kimberly pulled the special phone free. The screen was still lit. She stared at it. Her thumb hovered over the screen. She had no idea where she was. No idea who had brought her here. No idea where Gregor was. And she still wasn't sure whether Lina could be trusted.

The only system she knew was the one she'd asked the person who gave her the phone to build in. Numbers. Codes.

When she needed something, she sent a quick message to the number.

But now she didn't even know what number to send. For perhaps the first time in years, Kimberly had no plan. Her eyes lowered toward the phone. Then— Bzzzt. Kimberly froze. A new message had appeared. Her entire body went still. She stared at the notification. Her fingers tightened around the phone. She didn't know who had sent it. She didn't know how they had found her. And she suddenly wasn't sure she wanted to know. Kimberly swallowed hard her throat still dry from the lack of saliva in her dehydrated mouth. Her thumb slowly hovered over the message. Don't panic. But she already was.

The car was quiet except for the rain hammering against the windshield.

Kimberly sat slumped in the passenger seat, Gregor's jacket still wrapped around her shoulders. The damp fabric had begun to warm her by degrees, but she was still shivering. Her body trembled beneath the jacket as the adrenaline that had kept her upright finally started to fade.

Her eyes barely opened. She looked toward Gregor. For a moment, she simply watched him. There was something strangely charming about the way he had put the jacket on her earlier. Something about the gesture had caught her completely off guard. It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't some grand declaration. He had simply seen that she was cold...and done something about it.

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips as she watched him put on the corpses jacket. Then, almost embarrassed by the thought, Kimberly quickly looked away. What the hell was that? She didn't have time to figure it out.

Her head rested against the seat as Gregor spoke to her, explaining the safehouse, the car, the computer, and what they needed to do next. Kimberly could barely process all of it anymore. She gave him a weak nod. Once. Then again. Her lips parted. "You... you didn't have to do that..." The words barely escaped her throat.

She swallowed hard, trying to gather enough strength to speak again. Water. She thought just a bit of water would help her speak even a bit better. She swallowed a dry lump in her throat sat there.

"We... we have to..." Her breathing hitched. "...change... cars..." She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. "This one... might be... tracked..." A weak huff escaped her, almost frustrated.

She hated sounding like this. Hated that she couldn't string together a complete sentence without feeling like her body was fighting her.

But Gregor continued explaining the safehouse. The computer. Their next move. Kimberly listened. And slowly, just a little, some of the strength began returning to her.

Her fingers tightened around the briefcase resting against her. The combination. Only she and Icsis knew it. Whatever was inside that case couldn't fall into the wrong hands. Her eyes lowered toward it. "Computer..." The word came out almost inaudibly.

Her fingers tightened even harder around the briefcase.

Then Gregor mentioned the boyfriend comment. Again something unexpectant that made her heart skip a beat. Was that a joke? Did 'he' make a cute joke? A tiny, exhausted giggle escaped her. "I... have a boyfriend now... huh?..."

Her eyes fluttered. The faint smile remained. And then— everything went black. Kimberly's body finally gave up the fight. Her head fell gently against the seat, her breathing becoming slow and shallow as consciousness slipped away.

But she wasn't dreaming. She was somewhere else. Somewhere darker. In a memory she never wanted to remember. a memory that haunted her many nights since the night it happened.

A flash of memory. Kimberly looking everywhere. A desperate young girl searching for her sister in tears. Asking everyone. "Have you seen her? Please...please have you seen her!" Passing out flyers and posters all across Columbia.

Another memory flashes. She is no longer asking. No longer crying. Stronger. More angry. Gun in her hand pointing at a man point blank in his head. A little girl, no older than 9 or 10...begging "Please don't kill mi padre!" As Kimberly shoots him in the head in front of her. After getting information from him. Blood splattered everywhere.

Another memory flashes. A warehouse. Gunfire. Kimberly's screaming like a banshee. Blood. Blood everywhere. The walls. The floor. Her face. Her clothes. None of it hers. All of it a trail she leaves behind her as she navigates through every room unharmed.

Kimberly slammed through the entrance of a far back room, like a woman possessed. No smile. No charm. No carefully calculated words. Nothing but rage.

She raised her weapon. Pulled the trigger. Again. Again. Again. Everything that moved became a target. None of her shots missed. All point blank in the forehead.

Her face was twisted with an anger so raw it barely looked like Kimberly anymore. Someone screamed. She screamed louder. Another body dropped. Another. Another. She dropped her empty gun and pulled out her knife from her cowgirl boots, leather completely soaked in blood.

"Eighteen..."

The number slipped from her lips in a groggy growl...she remained passed out as she spoke.

Then the memory fractured and then suddenly continued.

A door. Kimberly kicked it open. A gunshot cracked through the room. She threw herself sideways, the bullet narrowly missing her. She rolled. Came up firing. Two men. Two shots. Both dropped.

Kimberly didn't even look at them. Her eyes were already searching. Searching. Searching. And then she saw her. Icsis. Her sister. Limp. Motionless. Bloodied.

For one horrible second, Kimberly couldn't breathe. The angry, stone cold killer, changed into that sad girl again crying in the streets again. Her entire world stopped.

"No..." she whimpered quietly, eyes still closes lost in the memory.

The memory flickered. Changed. Kimberly was running with Icsis on her back, still lifeless and limp. She fell with Icsis on her back. Her sister's body flew forward and hit the ground. Yet she still didn't move.

Back in the car, Kimberly's fingers twitched. Her breathing suddenly became ragged. A tear slipped down her cheek. Her body jerked slightly. And then—

"ICSIS!"

The scream tore out of her. Her eyes snapped open for only a fraction of a second. She gasped desperately, coughing from the scream in her dry dehydrated throat, looking around as though she had been thrown back into the warehouse.

Then her strength disappeared again. Her head fell back against the seat. Her eyes closed.

"No..." Her voice was barely more than a breath. "Wake up..." Another tear rolled down her cheek. "Please..." Her fingers tightened around the briefcase. "...wake up..."

And Kimberly slipped back into unconsciousness and finally silent, her body shivering beneath Gregor's jacket as the rain continued beating against the car.

Kimberly noticed it almost immediately. Gregor had every opportunity to leave her. He could have taken the briefcase. He could have taken the gun. He could have finished whatever job he had originally intended to finish. Hell, he could have simply walked away and left her standing in the rain, bleeding and barely able to keep herself upright. He hadn't.

Her gut had told her to trust him. And, usually, Kimberly had pretty good instincts. Usually. At least, that was how she'd managed to stay alive this long. A healthy combination of instinct, recklessness, and an almost ridiculous amount of dumb luck. She wasn't entirely sure which one had saved her more often. But this time, her instincts seemed to have been right.

As he blew on her hand she froze. This is unexpected. Her mind thought. Her sunkissed, pale cheeks turning red from his actions.,, coming back to life just a tad.

Her eyes darted to his and a surprised look came on her face when he placed his jacket around her. Another weakness. She couldn't even speak from the shock. He sure is full of surprises. She thought to herself.

Gregor's hand remained wrapped around hers as he guided her through the rain. And Kimberly noticed something she hadn't expected. He was gentle. Not careful because she was dangerous. Gentle because she was hurt.

His thumb shifted slightly against her hand as he kept her steady, and something unfamiliar sparked somewhere inside her. Kimberly's thoughts stumbled. For once, her mind didn't immediately have an explanation.

She had flirted before. Manipulated people before. Used charm as a weapon more times than she could count. She understood attraction. She understood desire. She understood using someone's interest in her to get exactly what she wanted. But this? This tiny warmth that seemed to bloom from something as simple as someone holding her hand carefully? She didn't understand it. And somehow, that scared her more than the gun she handed him back had.

Her heart gave one strange little kick. Adrenaline. At least, that's what she told herself. Whatever it was, it gave her just enough of a boost to keep walking.

Kimberly liked being the one in control. She liked taking the lead. She liked knowing where she was going, what the plan was, and exactly how she intended to get there. Blindly following someone else toward a parking lot because they claimed there might be a car there? That was not Kimberly.

Normally, she'd have questioned every detail. Checked every possible exit. Calculated the risks. Made her own plan.

But right now in this moment? She didn't have the strength. So she followed Gregor. And somehow, that bothered her less than it should have.

His suit jacket rested around her shoulders, and the warmth slowly began seeping through her soaked clothes. Kimberly wanted to pull it a little tighter around herself, but she also didn't want to let his hand go.

She could feel the cold beginning to retreat from her skin. Her body felt strangely fuzzy now. Heavy. Distant. Her weakness was becoming harder to hide. A small, tired smile appeared on her lips when Gregor reassured her about Icsis. "She's going to be okay... I've run the numbers. Your sister, she's the most scary out of all of us."

Kimberly wanted to make a joke. Wanted to tell him he had absolutely no idea. Wanted to tease him about calling her sister scary. But she couldn't. She was too tired. She could barely breath properly at this point. Every movement felt like her last step she could take. Instead of responding to his words, she simply nodded. She listened. And for once, she didn't need to be the one talking.

Then when Gregor said he heard footsteps, Kimberly's face instinctively made a snarl. Another fucking surprise. Kimberly's mind started firing through possibilities so quickly that her ADHD practically dragged her back into tactical mode. Then she saw the operative. She remained silent. Completely still. Her eyes tracked him as Gregor spoke.

The conversation sounded like nonsense at first. A game. Overtime. The Accountant. But Kimberly understood quickly enough. Codes. Recognition.

Her eyes moved between the two men. She said nothing. She didn't even move. She simply watched.

Then the operative spoke about her. The target. The suitcase. Her sister. Kimberly's fingers tightened around the briefcase. And then Gregor made his choice.

For a second, Kimberly didn't understand what she was seeing. Gregor attacked him. The struggle was messy. Real. Desperate. Then the man went still.

Kimberly stared. Her mind went completely blank for approximately two seconds. Then—Why? Her thoughts exploded. Why did he do that? He could have handed me over. He could have taken the suitcase. He could have gotten whatever reward they promised him. He could have killed me. He could have walked away. Why did he protect me?

Kimberly was used to deals. Everything had a price. Information for protection. Protection for money. Favors for favors. Help always came with a condition. She understood that world. She knew how to operate inside it. But someone killing another person simply to protect her? She nerve really promised him anything except that she would protect him. And if anything all she did was get him more into trouble. More danger.

No....no. This was different. And Kimberly didn't know what to do with different. Her ADHD kicked into overdrive again. If this operative was here, were there more? Was Icsis safe? Was Lina the one who gave away their position? If not and she was truly on their side, was she safe? Was the entire area surrounded? Did Gregor know something he hadn't told her? Was the car safe?

Could there be someone inside? Could—

Gregor's voice cut through the storm. "His car. Get in his car, quickly. Quietly. The cleanup is here."

Kimberly snapped back to reality. No more thinking. No more questions. They were out of time. She moved toward the vehicle. Kimberly's eyes immediately sharpened. The vehicle was still running. There could be another operative. Another trap.

Her instincts kicked in despite the exhaustion. Too easy. Someone could be inside. Someone could be waiting nearby.

For just two seconds she stood beside it, staring through the window. Then Kimberly opened the door and climbed inside. Her movements were slower than she'd have liked. Weaker. But she forced herself to check. Back seat. Floor. Front. Under the seats as much as she could see. Nothing. No hidden operative. No unexpected passenger. No immediate threat. Good enough.

She climbed fully inside and pulled the door shut behind her. The moment the door closed, Kimberly finally allowed herself to sink slightly into the seat. Her hand remained wrapped tightly around the briefcase. Gregor's jacket still surrounded her.

Her eyes drifted toward him. She didn't say anything. She couldn't quite find the words. And quite frankly, she was running low on her own personal battery.

But her expression said enough. She was still confused. Still suspicious. Still scared. Still worried about Icsis.

But underneath all of it was something new. Something she hadn't planned for. She trusted him. And that might have been the most dangerous thing of all.

The faint buzzing from Lina's pocket hadn't gone unnoticed. Kimberly's eyes flicked toward her almost instinctively. Once. Then again.

She remembered the message she'd sent. Her "special phone" wasn't something just anyone could use. Kimberly had memorized the emergency codes long ago, simple enough that she wouldn't have to waste time explaining what she needed when every second mattered.

1.

Mercenary.

2.

Medic.

3.

A ride.

4.

All of the above.

Kimberly had texted the number 4. She'd needed someone who could fight, someone who could patch wounds, and someone who could get them the hell out of there. And then Lina had appeared. Mercenary. Medic. Transportation. She fit the description almost perfectly. It made sense. Too much sense. And that was exactly what still bothered Kimberly.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Lina. If I asked for someone who could do all of that... why do I still feel like something isn't right? Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it was instinct. Kimberly had learned a long time ago that sometimes there wasn't much difference between the two.

Her attention shifted back toward Red as he continued talking. Jameson. Kimberly's eyes briefly narrowed. She filed the name away immediately. Who the hell was Jameson? A person? A contact? Something else? She didn't know. But she knew better than to ignore information simply because she didn't understand it yet.

Before she could think much more about it, Red lowered his own weapon and started walking away. Red began storming off, clearly done with the entire situation. Kimberly watched him go. Her gun remained raised for another moment. Her teeth grinding from anger at being yelled at. Her princess mentality she did NOT like being told what not to do. She unclenched her jaw and lowered the gun. Giving a smile to hide her emotions again. Only then did Kimberly slowly lower the gun as well.

But the moment the immediate threat disappeared, Kimberly felt something else. Fear. Not because of Red. Because she couldn't see Icsis anymore. Her eyes immediately searched the second-story window. Nothing. Her sister was gone. Icsis...

Her stomach twisted. She had already been worried about Lina. She had already questioned whether she could trust her. Now her sister was missing entirely.

The adrenaline wore off. And Kimberly's body was beginning to remind her that she wasn't invincible. The pain from the gunshot had become a dull, relentless throb beneath the bandage. The cold rain soaked through her clothes, stealing what little warmth she had left. Her stomach felt hollow from barely eating, and the blood she'd already lost was finally catching up with her.

She hadn't wanted to admit how tired she was. How hungry. How badly she needed to sit down. How badly she needed to stop moving for just a few minutes. But now that the immediate confrontation was over, the cracks were beginning to show. Her balance shifted. Just slightly.

Kimberly corrected herself immediately. She straightened her shoulders and forced her expression back into something resembling confidence. But her face was noticeably paler now. Her breathing had become shallow. Her eyelids felt heavier.

Kimberly's mind was racing, even though she heard Lina's words, her eyes were darting. And then she heard it again. The reminder that the cleanup crew was coming. Kimberly's ADHD blurred for a moment and she came back to reality.

Once Lina left, Kimberly's head snapped toward Gregor. "We're leaving." There was more urgency in her voice this time. Not the calculated urgency of someone making a tactical decision. Real urgency. "We need to go. Now."

She thought about the option of Lina's car but immediately shook her head. "I'm not getting into Lina's car. Too much of a risk..." It was a quick decision. She didn't know if she could trust her, and the danger was too high.

Her gaze returned to Gregor. "You had a plan before, right?" She took a breath. Or tried to. It came out shallow. "Take me somewhere safe. Somewhere fast."

Her fingers tightened around the briefcase in her injured hand. She wasn't letting that go. Not for anything.

Then she looked down at the pistol still in her other hand. For a moment she hesitated. Then she slowly held it out toward Gregor. Taking a chance. The gesture was almost strangely intimate considering everything that had happened tonight.

Kimberly was handing him her weapon. Trusting him with it. Her fingers released the grip. The pistol settled into Gregor's hand. Kimberly's empty hand remained suspended between them for a second. Then she did something even more vulnerable. Then she held her hand out toward him.

Her fingers trembled. Barely. But enough that she noticed. She curled them slightly, trying to hide it. She was getting weaker. And she hated it. She hated that her body was betraying her. She hated that she needed someone else to help her walk in case she couldn't. Most of all, she hated that she couldn't simply pick up the briefcase and keep going like nothing was wrong.

Her eyes lifted toward Gregor. A tiny smile appeared despite everything. "Well..." Her voice was softer now. She glanced briefly toward where Lina had disappeared. Then back at him. "I guess that makes you my boyfriend now." A faint, weak, tired little laugh escaped her. "That's what she called you, right?" The joke was weak. But it was still Kimberly.

Still that little spark of charm trying desperately to survive underneath the exhaustion. Her smile faded slightly as another wave of dizziness passed through her. She blinked. Once. Twice. Stay awake Kimberly. Keep smiling.

Then squeezed Gregor's hand when she finally gave it to him. "Come on, boyfriend." she said in a playful manner.

Her other hand clutched the briefcase tightly against her side. Kimberly forced herself to take a step. Then another. She kept her eyes open through sheer stubbornness. I'm going to make it.

The rain continued pouring over her face, hiding just how pale she'd become. And beneath all the jokes, all the confidence, all the attitude—

there was one thought she couldn't shake. I hope Icsis is okay. She's smart. She always find a way out.

She didn't say it aloud. She couldn't. Because right now, she needed to get Gregor moving before the cleanup crew arrived. And she needed to stay conscious long enough to find her sister. Or for her sister to find her.

Kimberly's fingers hovered for only a moment over Gregor's offered hand. She saw it. She registered it. And then, somehow, she forgot it was there. Her attention had shifted completely toward the shattered window. Icsis was still inside, positioned at the broken frame and looking down into the alley below. Kimberly could see her sister's weapon trained on the stranger outside, everything else in Kimberly's mind simply vanished. Gregor. The briefcase. The pain in her arm. The blood she'd already lost.

None of it mattered. Her sister was at the window. And Kimberly needed to be beside her. For that brief second, there was no calculated entrepreneur, no flirtatious manipulator, no woman carefully weighing every possible advantage. There was simply a sister.

Kimberly tightened her fingers around Gregor's pistol and moved toward the window. Then heard another mans voice. An unfamiliar voice. A close voice. She hesitated for a moment and showed weakness for the first time. Her ADHD had her mind racing a million miles a minute. Somewhere in the back of her mind, one thought still nagged at her. Lina. She couldn't shake the question. Was Lina really who Kimberly had called? Or had someone else sent her? Because if Lina was supposed to be protecting them, then how the hell had someone managed to sneak this close?

Her brain began calculating before she made a decision to do anything. Worry swept over her face while she went into deep thought for what felt like an eternity to Kimberly in that dire moment, but lasted only seconds. She calculated all of the events that involved Lina. She had patched Kimberly up. She had helped. She had stood between them and Gregor. But she hadn't kept Kimberly or Icsis safe. And now there was an armed stranger standing outside while Lina was nowhere near them.

Kimberly didn't like coincidences. Especially not ones involving strangers with military training. The moment she heard her sisters voice speaking to the man, her mind instantly filed the question away. She could investigate Lina later. If there was a later.

Right now, Icsis came first. Her face snapped back into that familiar nonchalant smirk. Fear disappeared. She stepped backward several paces. Then ran. Kimberly launched herself through the shattered window. Her movement was surprisingly graceful. She twisted sideways, clearing the jagged glass with practiced athleticism before dropping toward the pavement.

Her cowgirl boots hit the wet ground. The briefcase pulled hard against her balance. She stumbled. Only slightly. But the movement sent a vicious pulse of pain through her injured arm. Her breath caught. For half a second, her face betrayed her as her vision blurred from the pain. Then it was gone. She straightened. She pushed through. She couldn't pass out now and nobody needed to know how much that hurt.

Her violet, almost pink eyes immediately found the large figure standing nearby. Then she smiled keeping her composure. A big guy. Too close. Much too close.

Kimberly raised Gregor's pistol. Bang! The round deliberately struck the pavement near Red's feet.

Kimberly's smile widened. She glanced toward Gregor. "See?" A tiny, almost wicked giggle escaped her. "That's how you miss on purpose." She winked.

Then her eyes returned to the big guy in the shadows. "Now..." Her voice remained almost sweet. "Ten steps back."

Kimberly took one slow step forward. "You're getting a little too close to my people."

Her gaze briefly shifted toward Icsis. Then back to Red. The message was clear. She wasn't just protecting herself. She had already decided Gregor belonged under her protection too.

Kimberly leaned slightly toward Gregor, lowering her voice so only he could hear. "I told you I would keep you safe, Accountant." The words came out almost seductively. Followed by another soft, evil little giggle.

Then Kimberly turned her attention back to the big guy. Her expression became almost charming. "Didn't you hear the nice lady?" She nodded toward Icsis. "She asked you to tell her your name."

Click! Kimberly deliberately cocked the pistol again. Her smile grew wider. "You have three seconds..." A pause. "...before I don't miss this time."

Her violet-pink eyes locked onto where she assumed the big guys were based ono his silhouette in the shadows. Hypnotic. Playful. And absolutely serious.

She gave him an almost impossibly sweet smile. "Okay?" Another little giggle. And Kimberly waited.

Her injured arm throbbing beneath the bandage. Her body weakened from blood loss. Her stomach practically empty. Rain sliding down her sunset-colored skin. Her long, silky brown hair damp beneath her crooked cowgirl hat from the jump. Yet none of it showed. Because Kimberly had made her choice. Whatever happened next, nobody was getting close to 'her people'. Especially not Icsis.

Kimberly's fingers closed around Gregor's pistol. She gave it a quick inspection before letting her arm fall naturally to her side. The weight wasn't unfamiliar. It wasn't her preferred weapon, but it was certainly better than walking into whatever came next empty-handed.

Besides, she had something else. Hidden beneath the hem of one of her worn cowgirl boots was a slim knife strapped securely against her ankle. Concealed beneath the boot, hidden from anyone who hadn't been specifically looking for it.

Kimmy had never liked having only one option. Her outfit certainly didn't advertise how prepared she was. Ripped denim shorts. A crop top tied at the front in a small bow. Cowgirl boots. Her cowgirl hat sitting over her long, silky brown hair. She looked more like she had wandered into the wrong bar than into a compromised safehouse with a bleeding arm and a newly acquired employee.

Kimmy liked that. People tended to underestimate what didn't look dangerous.

Her violet eyes drifted toward Gregor. "Just so we're clear..." She lifted the pistol slightly. "I have a gun now." A playful smile tugged at her lips. "And I don't usually miss quite as badly as you do." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "So don't worry." She stepped closer, her voice lowering. "I'll keep you safe." A tiny pause. "This is your first job, after all." She gave him an almost innocent smile. "You should probably go first." Kimmy gestured toward the hallway with the pistol. "Besides, if something happens to you..." She tilted her head. "I have a medic." Her smile became wicked. "Lina can patch you up." A soft, evil little laugh escaped her. "Heavily injured, slightly injured..." Another quiet giggle. "I'm sure she'll find something to bandage."

Kimmy watched Lina disappear down the hallway. Her smile slowly faded. Something about it bothered her. The woman had responded to her call. She had arrived armed. She had treated her wound. She had even put herself between Kimmy and Gregor. But now she had left.

Kimmy's violet-pink eyes narrowed slightly. Was she the person she'd called? Maybe. Maybe not. She had no proof. And Kimmy had learned a long time ago that assuming someone was an ally simply because they acted like one was a good way to end up dead. Another connection to investigate later. For now, she had more immediate problems.

Her gaze shifted to Icsis. Still armed. Still watching. Still suspicious. Good.

Kimmy almost smiled. Her sister was exactly where she needed to be mentally.

But Gregor's warning echoed in her mind. One hour. A cleanup team. Fifty meters southwest.

Kimmy didn't panic. She couldn't afford to. Instead, she casually picked up the briefcase. "Ahh..." She glanced toward Icsis. "We've got time." Her tone was almost dismissive. Almost. She immediately started packing. Drives. Documents. Anything useful. Anything that couldn't be replaced. Her movements were quick but controlled, despite the pain radiating through her injured arm. She didn't let her expression betray it. Not even when the wound pulled sharply as she reached across the desk. Her jaw tightened. Then relaxed. Done. The briefcase snapped shut.

Kimmy looked toward Gregor. "You wanted to know what to call me." Her lips curved. "You don't get my name." She leaned slightly closer. "You haven't earned that privilege yet." A playful glint appeared in those strange violet eyes. "But you can call me whatever you like." She winked. "Make it cute." Kimmy stepped away. "Or flattering."

Then her expression shifted. Her eyes moved toward the doorway. Something outside. Movement. Kimmy froze. Not visibly. Only for half a heartbeat. A silhouette. Someone outside the building. Her brain immediately ran through the possibilities. Police. Gregor's former employers. A random civilian. Someone responding to the gunshots. Someone who had been following them. She didn't know. And that was exactly why she wasn't going to find out by standing in front of the door.

Kimmy looked at Icsis. Her sister's weapon was still ready. Kimmy knew immediately what mattered most. Not the briefcase. Not Gregor. Not herself. Icsis. She needed to get her sister out. Kimmy's eyes met Icsis'. No words. Just a look. Move. Now.

Kimmy shifted the briefcase into her bad side and the pistol into her good hand, and moved toward the opposite side of the room. Her eyes quickly swept across the apartment. Window. Hallway. Stairs. Main entrance.

The main entrance was compromised by whoever was outside. Lina was already down there, outside, somewhere. Which meant following her directly was no longer necessarily the safest option.

Kimmy's gaze landed on the window. Then on Icsis. A decision. She pointed subtly toward the alternate exit. The one that kept Icsis away from the person outside. Kimmy didn't announce what she was doing. Didn't shout. Didn't panic. She simply moved.

Then she looked at Gregor. A small smile appeared. She pointed toward the hallway. "Go." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "You first."

Kimmy stepped back, keeping Gregor between herself and the unknown presence beyond the building. Not because she intended to sacrifice him. Because he had volunteered to work for her. And because she had promised to keep him safe. But also because Gregor was now useful. Very useful. She wasn't about to waste her newest connection.

Then she looked toward Icsis again. Another silent signal. Stay with me.

Her violet eyes returned to Gregor. That almost hypnotic stare softened into a playful smile. "Come on, Accountant." She whispered. "First job."

Kimberly remained remarkably still while Lina worked. The disinfectant burned. God, it burned. Every nerve in her arm seemed determined to remind her exactly where that bullet had kissed her sunset-colored skin, but Kimberly refused to give it the satisfaction. Her jaw tightened for the briefest fraction of a second before she deliberately relaxed it again. No grimace. No complaint. Nothing Gregor needed to see.

Her long, silky brown hair had fallen loosely around her shoulders during the chaos, a few strands clinging against her skin from the damp air. She absently swept them back with her good hand, exposing the delicate curve of her neck before allowing them to fall naturally behind her again.

She had been shot at. She had been grazed. She was still standing. That was all anyone needed to know.

When Lina offered her the little vial of wine, Kimberly's violet eyes, so pale they almost carried a pink hue, settled on it. Then on Lina. A polite smile appeared. "No, thank you, sweetheart." She left the vial exactly where it was. She wasn't drinking anything handed to her by a stranger in the middle of a safehouse that had just been attacked. Not tonight. Kimberly filed the thought away quietly. No one could be trusted yet. Not Lina. Not Gregor. And certainly not whoever had sent Gregor in the first place.

If she wanted answers, she'd get them from Icsis. Her sister. The one person in this room she knew well enough to recognize the slightest change in her expression. Kimberly caught Icsis's green eyes from the corner of her vision. The same rare coloring they had both inherited, though expressed differently.

Her sister was nervous. Kimberly could see it. The rigid posture. The weapon held perfectly steady. The constant scanning of the room. But Kimberly didn't reassure her. Icsis didn't need reassurance. She needed to remain cautious. That caution was part of what kept them alive. So Kimberly gave her sister the smallest approving smile. Good. Stay suspicious.

Then her attention returned to Lina. "You're good at this." Kimberly flexed her fingers experimentally as Lina finished securing the bandage. She didn't mention how badly it hurt. Instead, she looked down at her arm and curled her lips and made a frown. "Oh, that's going to be annoying." Her voice remained almost conversational. Her eyes drifted toward Gregor as she went from a scowl to a serious and annoyed look at him. "Do you know what the worst part is?" Kimberly slowly turned her arm, revealing the damaged sleeve and the tattoo beneath it. A delicate floral design had been interrupted by the graze. She studied it for a moment. Then looked directly at him as she lowered the bandage back down. The sting from it made her regret being so cocky about it. But she would never show it. Those unusual violet eyes seemed almost pink beneath the dim lighting. Hypnotic. Unnaturally striking. She held his gaze, then boldly stood from where she was sat. She took as long a pause to continue as it took her to verify Icsis had a clear shot from where she was standing from him and walk close towards him while scanning for a secondary weapon on him. She was close, but not dangerously close. "You made my flower bleed." Her voice dropped into a soft whisper then a soft giggle left her lips. Almost scary how there was no fear or pain in it. There was no accusation in it. If anything, there was something almost seductive about the way she said it.

Kimberly stepped slightly closer to him. Still a safe enough distance to not be harmed by any surprise attacks. "When this heals..." Her eyes flicked toward the tattoo. "...you're paying to have my sleeve redone." A tiny smile appeared. "Consider it the first expense of working for me." She let her gaze linger on him. "And don't worry." Her smile became teasing. "I'll make sure you get to watch while they fix it." A pause. "Assuming you behave."

Kimberly finally stepped back, allowing a curtain of silky brown hair to fall over one shoulder. Her expression became more businesslike. "Now..." She looked toward the gun. Then back to Gregor. "I think we've established something important." Her voice was calm. "You aren't particularly interested in killing me anymore." She didn't say it as though she controlled his decision. She simply stated what she had observed. "And I'm not particularly interested in killing you." Her eyes flicked toward Icsis. "Thankfully, my sister is considerably more cautious than I am." Kimberly gave Icsis another brief glance. "Which is exactly why she's still alive." There was genuine pride in her voice. I'd rather have her suspicious than careless. She thought to herelf.

Then she looked back to Gregor. And those violet-pink eyes settled on him again. This time, she didn't look away. "But you?" Her smile returned. "You're interesting."

She slowly walked away from him and around the edge of the table as if she owned the place. Her brown hair swayed against her back with each deliberate step.

"You've already figured out that whoever hired you isn't giving you the complete picture." She stopped a comfortable distance away. "You've also figured out that I know more than I'm saying." Her head tilted. "And now you're curious." Kimberly smiled. "That's dangerous.." She paused a beat. Then gave that evil giggle once again as she continued, "...for you." Her voice softened. "Because curiosity is exactly how people end up changing sides."

She stepped closer again. "Here's my offer." Kimberly held his gaze. "Don't work for the people who sent you." A pause. "Work for me." The distinction was deliberate. Not Icsis. Not the two sisters. Her. Kimberly.

She didn't need her sister's approval to make connections. That had never been how she operated. Icsis could distrust him. Kimberly understood why. In fact, Kimberly expected her sister to keep that P90 trained on him for as long as necessary. Kimberly had never built anything by surrounding herself with people she completely trusted. She built things by finding people who were useful. People with skills. People with information. People with connections. Sometimes even people who had been enemies five minutes earlier. Good connections. Bad connections. Dangerous connections. It didn't matter. A connection was a connection. And Kimberly knew how to make them work for her.

"You're too useful to waste." Her eyes briefly moved toward his weapon. "You understand numbers. Money. Risk. Logistics." A faint smile. "And apparently you can shoot." Her gaze dropped toward her arm. "Though your aim needs some work." She smiled innocently even though on the inside she was fuming from pain and annoyance. "You're going to have to make that up to me." Kimberly's voice became quieter. "You won't answer to my sister." Her eyes flicked toward Icsis for a moment. "She doesn't trust people easily." Then back to Gregor. "And frankly?" A little smile. "I don't need her to." Kimberly stepped closer, boldly a finger with a freshly done manicure attempted to poke his chest. "I will protect her before I protect myself you see...lucky you, for shooting me and not her...." A pause as she removes her finger and continues, almost a whisper, "...this could of been much much worse for you..."

Her violet eyes locked onto his as she moved away again. "I find the people who help me build....grow even..." Her expression softened into something almost intimate. "And I think I just found someone interesting."

Kimberly paused. "You want to know why they're after me?" Her expression became serious. "I'll tell you." A deliberate beat. "Not because you were paid to come eliminate me..." Her eyes returned to his. "Because you chose to work for me." She leaned slightly closer, lowering her voice. "You help me figure out who all is moving against me." Her gaze never left his. "You use that analytical brain of yours to find out what they know, who they report to, and how far this goes." A soft smile. "And if you prove you're worth keeping around..." Kimberly's eyes held his. "I'll give you the one thing your employer never gave you." She pauses a beat yet again. "The truth."

Her gaze dropped deliberately toward his lips for the briefest moment before returning to his eyes. "And perhaps..." Her smile became almost wicked. "...a few other rewards for good behavior."

Kimberly straightened after another wicked giggle. "Your choice, Accountant." She glanced toward the door and gave a nod. "Walk out of here and go back to being somebody else's disposable asset." Then back to him. "Or stay." A small smile. "Work for me." She lifted her injured arm slightly, looking at the damaged flower. "And start saving for my tattoo." Her eyes sparkled.

Kimberly gave him one last slow, knowing smile. "Personally, Gregor..." She whispered his name again, her voice barely above the rain pounding against the windows. "...I think you'd look much better standing beside me than standing across from me..."

The first shot shattered the edge of the table beside Kimmy, sending splinters skittering across the floor.

The second was closer. Far too close. A sharp sting tore across her right arm, and Kimmy instinctively grabbed it, her breath catching as she looked down at the thin line of blood beginning to run along her skin.

For half a second, the room disappeared. Not Gregor. Not the gun. Not even the pain. Icsis. Her sister was somewhere behind her, and that was the only thought that mattered.

Kimmy couldn't afford to panic. Couldn't afford to look afraid. Whatever happened to her was secondary. She needed to know Icsis was going to make it out of this. And she needed Gregor to believe that she was completely in control.

Her fingers slipped casually toward her phone. Just for a second. Hidden behind the edge of the table, her thumb moved across the screen. One message. No explanation. Just an address and three words. "Need a favor. Now." Send. The phone disappeared back into her hand before anyone could notice.

Kimmy slowly looked back toward the doorway. The sound of the rain suddenly became a beautiful melody in her ears. She was still alive. Icsis was still alive. The storm in her heart calmed and joined the rain in a calm downpour. Knowing she was the one who brought this danger to her sister she would be the one to get her out of it.

Then she smiled. It wasn't the frightened smile of someone who had just been shot at. It was the smile of a woman who had just learned something useful. "That's interesting." Her voice remained surprisingly calm. "You had two opportunities." Her eyes flicked briefly toward the bullet hole before returning to Gregor. "And I'm still alive."

Kimmy pressed her palm against her arm, feeling the warmth of the blood beneath her fingers. It hurt, but not enough to matter. Not yet.

"You know..." Her head tilted slightly, studying him. "For a man sent here to kill me, you're remarkably hesitant." There was something almost playful in her voice now. "And here I was expecting someone terrifying." Her gaze traveled over him deliberately before returning to his eyes. "Instead, I get a man in a nice suit who apparently likes dramatic entrances."

A faint smirk tugged at her lips. "I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed." She was buying time. Every second she kept him talking was another second Icsis had to think, move, or find an opening.

Kimmy knew her sister. Icsis was brilliant, paranoid, and probably already calculating ten different ways to survive this. But Kimmy also knew that brilliance didn't matter if fear made you act too quickly. So she needed to keep Gregor's attention on her.

"Let's talk about what you were actually given." She slowly leaned against the table. "A photograph. An address. A weapon. Probably a promise of money." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "But not the whole story." She smiled again. "Because if you knew the whole story, you wouldn't be standing there wondering whether pulling that trigger was the right decision...." Kimmy paused. Then, softer she says, "...and you are wondering."

Kimmy took one careful step from behind the table, stopping well short of anything that could be mistaken for a threat. "You're intelligent." Not a question. A statement. "I can tell." Her expression softened. "Which means you already know I'm right."

A little more charm slipped into her voice. "And honestly? I'm glad." She gave him a crooked smile. "Because I'd hate to waste a pretty face on a man who couldn't appreciate good conversation." For the first time, there was genuine amusement in her eyes.

Then her expression changed. Just slightly. Serious enough to remind him that beneath the charm was someone who understood exactly how dangerous this situation was. "You can kill me." Her eyes briefly shifted toward the weapon before returning to his face. "But then what?" She gestured subtly toward herself. "You collect your money, walk away, and tell yourself you completed the job." Her voice dropped. "Until someone decides you're a liability because you know too much."

Kimmy watched him carefully. "Or..." She let the word hang, "...you ask yourself why they wanted me dead badly enough to send someone like you."

Her eyes flicked toward the room behind her for the briefest moment. Icsis. Still there. Still alive.

Good.

Kimmy returned her attention to Gregor before he could follow her gaze. "And perhaps you ask yourself why they sent one man." She paused for a beat. "Unless..." Her smile returned. "...they didn't."

That was the gamble. She didn't know whether her message had been seen. She didn't know whether her connection would come. And she certainly didn't know that the person who might answer that message was already sitting outside, watching the building. But Gregor didn't need to know that. He only needed to wonder.

Kimmy slowly folded her arms, deliberately keeping her injured arm visible. "Now, here's what I think." She stepped just slightly closer. "I think you're smart enough to realize that killing me is the easy option." Her voice became almost conversational. "But I'm offering you the interesting one." A small smile. "Put the gun down." She paused. "Not because I'm asking you to trust me." Her eyes held his. "Because I'm asking you to trust your own intelligence."

Kimmy's expression softened into something almost warm. "And if you're willing to hear me out..." Her smile became genuinely charming. "...I might even tell you why someone went to all this trouble to make sure you never got the chance to meet me properly."

She glanced at the blood on her fingertips. Then back at him. "Because, apparently, introductions are much more memorable when someone shoots at you." A quiet laugh escaped her. "Don't you agree?"

How do I join? Sounds like a lot of fun